Documentation

Campaign Contributions Data Schema

cycle
The election cycle in which the contribution was given. Valid values are even years between 1990 and 2010 (inclusive).
transaction_namespace

Indicates the source of the contribution record.

Value Description
urn:fec:transaction federal contributions (CRP)
urn:nimsp:transaction state contributions (NIMSP)
transaction_id
Unique record ID given to the contribution by the FEC (federal) or NIMSP (state). Federal records are only guaranteed to be unique per year so they are prepended with the cycle.
transaction_type
Transaction type assigned by the FEC. State records do not yet have transaction types.
filing_id
Unique identifier for the actual filing with the FEC. State records do not yet have filing identifiers.
is_amendment
TRUE if transaction is an amendment to a previously reported contribution, otherwise FALSE.
amount
Amount of the contribution in US dollars.
date
Date the contribution was made.
contributor_name
Name of the person or organization making the contribution.
contributor_ext_id
The NIMSP or CRP ID of the contributor, if an ID exists.
contributor_type
I for individual or C for PAC. NIMSP (state) records do not have a contributor type.
contributor_occupation
The self-reported occupation of the contributor.
contributor_employer
The self-reported employer of the contributor.
contributor_gender
M for male, F for female. Gender will only be found on CRP (federal) records.
contributor_address
The self-reported address of the contributor.
contributor_city
The self-reported city of the contributor.
contributor_state
The self-reported state of the contributor as the two-letter state abbreviation.
contributor_zipcode
The self-reported ZIPCode of the contributor.
contributor_category
The five character industry category code of the contributor assigned by CRP or NIMSP.
organization_name
The name of the organization related to the contributor (employee, owner, spouse of owner, etc.). CRP or NIMSP standardized name.
organization_ext_id
The NIMSP or CRP ID of the organization, if an ID exists.
parent_organization_name
The name of the parent organization if one exists. CRP or NIMSP standardized name.
parent_organization_ext_id
The NIMSP or CRP ID of the parent organization, if an ID exists.
recipient_name
Name of the candidate or organization receiving the contribution.
recipient_ext_id
The NIMSP or CRP ID of the recipient.
recipient_party
The political party to which the recipient belongs. 3 for third party, D for Democratic Party, I for independent, R for Republican Party, and U for unknown.
recipient_type
C for committees, O for organizations, P for politicians.
recipient_category
The five character industry category code of the recipient assigned by CRP or NIMSP. A full listing of categories and category orders can be found in catcodes.csv.
recipient_category_order
The three character industry code of the recipient assigned by CRP or NIMSP. A full listing of categories and category orders can be found in catcodes.csv.
committee_name
The name of the committee associated with the recipient of the contribution. This may be a parent committee or the election committee for the candidate.
committee_ext_id
The NIMSP or CRP ID of the committee.
committee_party
The political party to which the committee belongs. 3 for third party, D for Democratic Party, I for independent, R for Republican Party, and U for unknown.
candidacy_status
TRUE for general election, FALSE for lost in the primary or dropped out, NULL if never ran.
district
The district that the candidate represents, if there is one. The district is as the state abbreviation followed by the district number. For example: CA-12.
seat

The type of office being sought by the candidate.

Value Description
federal:senate US Senate
federal:house US House of Representatives
federal:president US President
state:upper upper chamber of state legislature
state:lower lower chamber of state legislature
state:governor state governor
seat_status
I for incumbent, O for open. The value will be filled in as available in the source data.
seat_result
W for win, L for loss. The value will be filled in as available in the source data.