“Dark money” is a term used to describe political spending by groups that are not required to disclose their donors. Most often it refers to groups designated by the IRS as 501(c) organizations — businesses, issue advocacy groups, unions, civic and trade organizations (including many nonprofits) which are not allowed to directly contribute to a …

“I pledge not to take even a dime from corporate PACs!” It’s become a familiar mantra. Refusing money from corporate political action committees (PACs) is all the rage among Democratic candidates, and a growing trend among Republicans as well. The implication is that these candidates are taking the moral high ground by refusing to be …

Cries for “Campaign Finance Reform” come from both sides of the political aisle. It’s popular for candidates and interest groups to claim that we need to “get money out of politics” — and that limiting the amount of money citizens can donate to politicians and political causes is the way to do it. But is …

A big part of our mission at Transparency USA is to help citizens understand how money in politics really works. To that end, we are starting a new series exposing some of the most popular myths surrounding money in politics. A 2018 poll by the Pew Research Center reported that 77 percent of Americans believe …

In five minutes or less, you can understand what kinds of organizations have to report the names of donors and what kinds don’t. Here’s the quick run down. Organizations That Don’t Have to Disclose Their Donors: Private Organizations and Businesses –  Generally speaking, the internal matters (names of donors, members, customers, and investors) of private …