Contributors 2011 - 2012

Leadership PAC: Funding Developing Leadership PAC

Rank	Contributor	Hires lobbyists?	Lobbying firm?*	Lobbyist(s) give to member?	Total	Individuals	PACs
1	USA Rice Federation	Yes		Yes	$27,499	$500	$26,999
2	American Bankers Assn	Yes		Yes	$21,000	$1,000	$20,000
3	CME Group	Yes		Yes	$20,000	$0	$20,000
3	Monsanto Co	Yes		Yes	$20,000	$0	$20,000
5	Devon Energy	Yes			$18,500	$8,500	$10,000
6	Dairy Farmers of America	Yes			$18,000	$500	$17,500
7	National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn	Yes		Yes	$17,500	$0	$17,500
8	National Cotton Council	Yes			$17,000	$0	$17,000
9	Farm Credit Council	Yes			$15,000	$0	$15,000
10	CropLife America	Yes		Yes	$13,000	$0	$13,000
11	Chickasaw Nation	Yes		Yes	$12,500	$12,500	$0
11	Farmers' Rice Cooperative				$12,500	$0	$12,500
11	JPMorgan Chase & Co	Yes		Yes	$12,500	$0	$12,500
11	National Beer Wholesalers Assn	Yes			$12,500	$0	$12,500
15	American Assn of Crop Insurers	Yes		Yes	$12,000	$0	$12,000
15	Koch Industries	Yes			$12,000	$0	$12,000
15	Williams Companies	Yes			$12,000	$0	$12,000
18	American Crystal Sugar	Yes			$11,500	$1,500	$10,000
19	Independent Community Bankers of America	Yes			$11,000	$0	$11,000
19	Rain & Hail Insurance Society				$11,000	$0	$11,000
21	National Pork Producers Council	Yes		Yes	$10,500	$0	$10,500
22	Alabama Farmers Federation	Yes			$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	American Peanut Shellers Assn	Yes			$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	American Seniors Housing Assn	Yes		Yes	$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	American Veterinary Medical Assn	Yes			$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	California Dairies Inc	Yes			$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	Chesapeake Energy	Yes		Yes	$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	Deere & Co	Yes			$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	Ernst & Young	Yes	Yes		$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	Feld Entertainment	Yes			$10,000	$10,000	$0
22	Land O'Lakes	Yes		Yes	$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	National Peanut Buying Points Assn				$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	NTCA/Rural Broadband Assn				$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	Seaboard Corp	Yes			$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	Securities Industry & Financial Mkt Assn	Yes		Yes	$10,000	$0	$10,000
22	Texas Farm Bureau	Yes			$10,000	$0	$10,000
37	Syngenta Corp				$9,500	$0	$9,500
38	National Council of Farmer Co-Ops	Yes			$9,000	$0	$9,000
38	National Turkey Federation	Yes			$9,000	$0	$9,000
40	Cornerstone Government Affairs		Yes	Yes	$8,500	$8,500	$0
40	Farmer Mac				$8,500	$0	$8,500
40	Florida Crystals				$8,500	$7,500	$1,000
40	Honeywell International	Yes		Yes	$8,500	$0	$8,500
40	UBS Americas				$8,500	$0	$8,500
45	National Assn of Realtors	Yes			$8,000	$0	$8,000
45	Tyson Foods	Yes			$8,000	$0	$8,000
45	United Egg Assn	Yes		Yes	$8,000	$0	$8,000
48	AT&T Inc	Yes		Yes	$7,500	$0	$7,500
48	Bank of America	Yes			$7,500	$0	$7,500
48	Deloitte LLP	Yes	Yes		$7,500	$0	$7,500
48	Goldman Sachs	Yes		Yes	$7,500	$0	$7,500
48	National Assn of Convenience Stores	Yes			$7,500	$0	$7,500
48	Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers	Yes		Yes	$7,500	$0	$7,500
48	Western Growers Assn	Yes			$7,500	$0	$7,500
48	Western Peanut Growers Assn	Yes		Yes	$7,500	$0	$7,500
56	Altria Group	Yes		Yes	$7,000	$0	$7,000
56	Cargill Inc	Yes		Yes	$7,000	$0	$7,000
56	ConocoPhillips	Yes			$7,000	$0	$7,000
56	Credit Suisse Securities				$7,000	$0	$7,000
56	Dean Foods	Yes		Yes	$7,000	$0	$7,000
56	National Cattlemen's Beef Assn	Yes			$7,000	$0	$7,000
56	National Sorghum Producers	Yes		Yes	$7,000	$0	$7,000
63	Diageo North America				$6,812	$0	$6,812
64	Managed Funds Assn	Yes		Yes	$6,500	$0	$6,500
65	Ecolab Inc	Yes		Yes	$6,000	$0	$6,000
65	Exelon Corp				$6,000	$0	$6,000
65	Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka				$6,000	$0	$6,000
65	International Dairy Foods Assn	Yes		Yes	$6,000	$0	$6,000
65	Lockheed Martin	Yes		Yes	$6,000	$0	$6,000
65	National Assn of Home Builders	Yes			$6,000	$0	$6,000
65	Walmart Inc				$6,000	$0	$6,000
72	American Institute of CPAs	Yes	Yes		$5,500	$0	$5,500
72	HSBC North America				$5,500	$0	$5,500
72	US Sugar	Yes		Yes	$5,500	$5,500	$0
72	Williams & Jensen		Yes	Yes	$5,500	$5,500	$0
76	Olsson, Frank & Weeda		Yes	Yes	$5,300	$5,300	$0
77	Alabama Peanut Producers Assn				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	American Fidelity Corp	Yes			$5,000	$2,500	$2,500
77	American Meat Institute	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	American Sugar Cane League	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Association of Equipment Manufacturers	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Blackrock Capital Management				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Bunge North America				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Campbell Soup	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Capital One Financial	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Capitol Decisions Inc		Yes	Yes	$5,000	$5,000	$0
77	Coca-Cola Co	Yes		Yes	$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Florida Sugar Cane League	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Grocery Manufacturers Assn	Yes		Yes	$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Hilliard Brothers of Florida				$5,000	$5,000	$0
77	Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Intercontinental Exchange Inc				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	JBS USA				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Keep Our Mission PAC				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Locke Lord LLP		Yes		$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Lucas Oil Products				$5,000	$5,000	$0
77	McLendon Acres				$5,000	$5,000	$0
77	Morgan Stanley	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	National Assn/Farm Service Agency County Employees				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	National Auto Dealers Assn	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	National Chicken Council	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	National Rural Water Assn	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	National Thoroughbred Racing Assn	Yes		Yes	$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	New York Life Insurance	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	New York Stock Exchange				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Publix Super Markets	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Russell Group				$5,000	$5,000	$0
77	Southern Minn Beet Sugar Co-Op	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Steptoe & Johnson	Yes	Yes	Yes	$5,000	$500	$4,500
77	Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	United Fresh Produce Assn	Yes		Yes	$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	US Peanut PAC				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Ward Petroleum				$5,000	$5,000	$0
77	Wells Real Estate Funds				$5,000	$0	$5,000
77	Weyerhaeuser Co	Yes			$5,000	$0	$5,000

*registrants, or active lobbying firm

These tables list the top donors to candidates in the 2011 - 2012 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Why (and How) We Use Donors' Employer/Occupation Information

Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. At the state level, corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions.

Under federal law, all contributions over $200 must be itemized and the donor's occupation and employer must be requested and disclosed, if provided. State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment disclosures vary.

Where available, OpenSecrets uses that employer/occupation information to identify the donor's economic interest. We do this in two ways:

• First, we apply a code to the contribution, identifying the industry. Totals for industries (and larger economic sectors) can be seen in each candidate and race profile, and in the Industry Profile section of the OpenSecrets website.
• Second, we standardize the name of the donor's employer. If enough contributions came in from people connected with that same employer, the organization's name winds up on the Top Contributors list.

It is impossible to know either the economic interest that made each individual contribution possible or the motivation for each individual giver. However, the patterns of contributions provide critical information for voters, researchers and others. That is why Congress and many states have mandated that candidates, political parties and political committees request employer information from contributors and publicly report it when the contributor provides it.

In some cases, a cluster of contributions from people associated with the same organization may indicate a concerted effort by that organization to "bundle" contributions to the candidate. In other cases, the reason for the contributions may be completely unrelated to the organization.

Showing these clusters of contributions from people associated with particular organizations provides a valuable — and unique — way of understanding where candidates are getting their financial support. Knowing those groups is also useful after the election, as issues come before Congress, presidential administrations and state governments that may affect those organizations or their industries.

METHODOLOGY

Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. At the state level, corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions.

Donors who give more than $200 to any federal candidate, PAC or party committee must list their occupation and employer. State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment disclosures vary. Based on the available information, the donor is given an economic code. These totals are conservative, as not all of the individual contributions have yet been classified by OpenSecrets.

In cases where two or more people from the same family contributed, the income-earner's occupation/employer is assigned to all non-wage earning family members. If, for instance, Henry Jones lists his employer as First National Bank, his wife Matilda lists "Homemaker" and 12-year old Tammy shows up as "Student," OpenSecrets would identify all their contributions as being related to the "First National Bank" since that's the source of the family's income.

Although individual contributions are generally categorized based on the donor's occupation/employer, in some cases individuals may be classified instead as ideological donors. A contribution to a candidate may be given an ideological code, rather than an economic code, if the contributor gives to an ideological political action committee AND the candidate has received money from PACs representing that same ideological interest.

NOTE: All the numbers on this page are for the 2011 - 2012 election cycle and based on Federal Election Commission data released electronically on March 25, 2013. ("Help! The numbers don't add up...")

WHY DON'T THE NUMBERS ADD UP?

Sometimes it's hard to make apple-to-apple comparisons across some of the pages in a candidate's profile. Here's why:

Summary numbers for federal officeholders - specifically "Total Raised and Spent" and "PAC/Individual Split" - are based on summary reports filed by the candidates with the Federal Election Commission. All other numbers in these profiles for state and federal officeholders are derived from contribution records disclosed in campaign finance reports from the FEC or state campaign finance agencies that reach applicable itemization thresholds.

There is also a time lag in posting the information. While summary numbers are reported almost immediately by the FEC — and listed quickly on OpenSecrets — processing and analyzing the detailed records takes much longer. For that reason, summary numbers are usually higher (and more current) than the numbers based on detailed records. Data for state officeholders may be subject to longer time lags, as OpenSecrets aggregates this information from many sources and formats.

HOW CURRENT ARE THESE FIGURES?

The figures in federal profiles are taken from databases uploaded by the FEC on the first day of every month. Those databases are only as current as the FEC has been able to compile by that date (see the note above about lag times for data entry).

OpenSecrets updates federal figures for "Total Raised and Spent" and for "PAC/Individual Split" a few days after the first of the month. The remaining figures - based on detailed contribution data - are updated by OpenSecrets after the 20th of every month. This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and interest group.

The lag times vary for state officeholder data. OpenSecrets aggregates state data from many sources and formats.

Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit OpenSecrets. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact OpenSecrets: [email protected]