FAQs
What is MapLight? Who funds MapLight? When did MapLight begin? How has MapLight been recognized? What are your future plans? Do you have any job openings? How do I find out about what you're up to? How can I help / get involved / make use of this information? What is MapLight? MapLight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics. We provide citizens and journalists with transparency tools that connect data on campaign contributions, politicians, votes, industries, companies, and more to show patterns of influence never before possible to see. The "Map" in MapLight stands for "money and politics." Who funds MapLight? We are funded by foundations and individuals who favor greater transparency for money and politics. Please see our funding page for a list of our funders. When did MapLight begin? We began in March 2005, focused on money and politics in California, with the name "TakeBackCA.org." In October 2006, we launched a website tracking money and votes in the California legislature. In May 2007, we launched our website tracking money and votes in U.S. Congress and changed our organization's name to MapLight to reflect our focus beyond California. How has MapLight been recognized? MapLight has received numerous awards, including:
What are your future plans? Some of our current projects include compiling new data sets to further shine a light on political corruption and building interactive visual tools to help illustrate special interest influence and share our findings on social media. In 2012, we launched an online voter guide, Voter's Edge, profiling ballot measures in several states and cities. We have since expanded the project extensively: for the November 2014 election, Voter's Edge is covering federal and state-level candidates in all 50 states and statewide ballot measures in every state that has them, greatly simplifying pre-election research for voters across the country. Through a partnership with the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund's Smart Voter, we are also covering local candidates and ballot measures for more than 50 California cities and counties. We regularly launch new features, tools, and services to our site. To keep up-to-date on our progress and plans, subscribe to our email list or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Do you have any job openings? Please see our jobs page for available jobs and internships and subscribe to our email list for notification of future job openings. How do I find out about what you're up to? Subscribe to our email list for occasional e-mails with major findings about Congress and news about our organization. Subscribe to our Spotlight on Congress RSS feed or visit our Spotlight on Congress blog for all our findings about Congress. Subscribe to our Spotlight on California RSS feed or visit our Spotlight on California blog for all our findings about California. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for major findings about Congress and news about our organization. Back to the TopHow can I help?
- Rootstrikers Back to the Top
Have even further questions or research requests? Contact us!
Interested in working for MapLight? Check out our open job positions.
|