National Institute on Money in Politics

Background

Using a grant from the MacArthur Foundation’s Democracy Program (also known as the MacArthur Project, the Western States Center formed the predecessor organization to the National Institute on Money in Politics as the Money in Western Politics Project. Originally, the organization was one of five regional teams funded by the MacArthur Foundation to provide state-level campaign finance similar to that which the Federal Election Commission (FEC) produces for federal campaigns. ³

Later in 1999, three of these regional teams merged under the leadership of Edwin Bender, who was then the manager of research for the Money in Western Politics Project to form the National Institute of Money in State Politics as a standalone charity based in Helena, Montana. ^{3 4}

In July 2018, the National Institute on Money in State Politics merged with the Campaign Finance Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based organization also founded in 1999 with a similar focus. During this time, the organization also dropped the word “state” from its name to reflect its expanded focus on federal campaign finance data, becoming the National Institute on Money in Politics. ^{1 5 6}

Merger with OpenSecrets

In 2021, the organization merged with the Center for Responsive Politics to form OpenSecrets. According to its filing with the Internal Revenue Service that year, the organization made a net asset transfer to the latter of $104,666. ^{2 7}

FollowTheMoney.org

The main activity of The National Institute on Money in Politics was the publication of FollowTheMoney.org, a website featuring campaign finance data from reports submitted to election agencies about subjects including campaigns for statewide and federal office, major political party committees, ballot measure committees, and lobbying expenditures. ^{8 1}

The Institute also published reports and blog posts on the website about trends in campaign spending and donations. For instance, in 2020, the organization published reports on the levels of spending by women as political donors, the levels of independent expenditures made in support of Democratic versus Republican Party campaigns, and relative fundraising levels for the campaigns of presidential candidates. ^{8 1}

Though the Institute merged with the Center for Responsive Politics to form OpenSecrets in 2021, as of August 2026, FollowTheMoney.org still posted online. However, a statement on the website’s homepage noted that its state-campaign finance data was updated only through 2024 and that the website was not being actively maintained. ⁷

Finances

According to a report published by the RAND Corporation in 2014, the National Institute on Money in Politics (then the National Institute on Money in State Politics) did not receive funding from the government, but rather financed its annual budget, which in 2013, was $1.6 million, from donations from major left-of-center foundations, such as the Bauman Foundation, California Endowment, Energy Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Rockefeller Family Fund, and Sunlight Foundation. Additionally, the institute also received funding from the proceeds of database sales and custom research projects. ³

Leadership

Edwin Bender was the executive director of the National Institute on Money in Politics as well as the manager of research for its predecessor organization, the Money in Western Politics Project. Previously, he worked at the copy desk of the Tacoma News Tribune. Following the Institute’s merger with the Center for Responsive Politics in 2021 to form OpenSecrets, he worked as an executive advisor to the latter in that year and in 2022. ^{9 10 11 3}

In 2021, Bert Brandenburg was the president of the board of directors of the National Institute on Money in Politics. Previously, he was the president of Appleseed, executive director of Justice at Stake, director of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice, team leader of National Performance Review, chief speechwriter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, counsel for former U.S. Rep Edward Feighan (D-OH), and a policy analyst at the Progressive Policy Institute. As of August 2026, he was senior counsel at Ward Circle Strategies, a public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. ^{12 2}