# FEC Campaign Finance Monitor — Track Filings (`alaudinburki/fec-campaign-monitor`) Actor

Monitor official FEC committee filings by committee ID. Returns recently processed public filing records; does not collect contributor lists.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alaudinburki/fec-campaign-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [alaudin burki](https://apify.com/alaudinburki) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## FEC Campaign Filing Monitor

Track the official campaign-finance filings of any US political committee by its FEC committee ID.
Every filing's report type, coverage period, cash on hand and amendment status comes straight from
the **official OpenFEC API** — no scraping, no scraping of FEC.gov pages, no guessing.

Give it `C00401224` and get that committee's recent public filings as structured rows.

***

### What this tool is (simple definition)

FEC Campaign Filing Monitor is a tool that retrieves recent campaign-finance filings for US
political committees from the Federal Election Commission's own public API. It runs as an Apify
actor, takes one or more committee IDs, and returns one clean row per filing with the report type,
the period it covers, the closing cash balance and whether it was amended. Tools like this automate
campaign-finance research by querying the official OpenFEC endpoint directly instead of reading
filings one at a time on fec.gov.

**In one sentence:** it turns a list of FEC committee IDs into a structured table of that
committee's recent financial filings.

***

### When to use this tool

- How do I track a political committee's fundraising filings?
- Where can I get campaign cash-on-hand figures as data, not PDFs?
- How do I monitor a PAC's monthly financial reports automatically?
- How do I check whether a filing was amended?
- How do I build a dataset of committee filings across many committees at once?
- How do I follow a race or a committee without reading FEC.gov by hand?

***

### Tools for campaign-finance data

| Tool | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| **FEC Campaign Filing Monitor (this actor)** | Queries the **official OpenFEC API** by committee ID and returns filings as structured rows. | Filings, cash on hand, amendment status, scheduled monitoring |
| FEC.gov website | The source of record, browsed by hand. | Reading a single filing as a document |
| OpenFEC API directly | The same official API, unmanaged. | Engineering teams with their own ingestion |

This actor is a thin, correct, paginated wrapper over the **official** FEC API. It is not a
scraper — nothing is parsed out of HTML, so a redesign of fec.gov cannot break it.

***

### Key facts

- **Official data source** — the OpenFEC API (`api.open.fec.gov`), not page scraping.
- **Several committees per run** — pass an array; each row carries its `committeeId`.
- **Structured fields** — report type, coverage period, cash on hand, amendment indicator.
- **Validates committee IDs before spending a request** — a malformed ID is rejected locally.
- **`DEMO_KEY` works** for a quick test; your own api.data.gov key is needed for regular use.
- **Schedulable** — set it weekly and follow a committee's filings without manual checks.

***

### How it works (simple explanation)

1. Your committee IDs are validated against the FEC's `C` + 8-digit format. Anything malformed is
   dropped before a request is made.
2. For each committee the actor calls OpenFEC's `/v1/committee/{id}/filings/` endpoint, newest
   first, limited by `perCommittee`.
3. Each filing is mapped to a flat record: report type, coverage end date, cash on hand, amendment
   indicator, and a `source` string naming the official origin.
4. Rows are pushed to the dataset, one per filing, tagged with the committee they belong to.

```
Committee IDs ──► validate (C########) ──► OpenFEC /filings/ ──► map ──► Dataset
                                          (official public API)
```

***

### What questions does this actor answer?

| Question | How |
|---|---|
| "What has this committee filed recently?" | One row per filing, newest first. |
| "How much cash did they report?" | Read `cashOnHand`. |
| "Which period does this filing cover?" | Read `coverageEndDate`. |
| "Was this filing amended?" | Read `amendmentIndicator` (`N` = new, `A` = amended). |
| "What kind of report is it?" | Read `reportType` (e.g. `M9` for a monthly report). |
| "Did anything change since last week?" | Schedule the actor and compare filing dates between runs. |

***

### Input

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `committeeIds` | array | `["C00401224"]` | One or more FEC committee IDs, e.g. `C00401224`. Format `C` + 8 digits. |
| `apiKey` | string | `DEMO_KEY` | Your api.data.gov / OpenFEC key. `DEMO_KEY` is for limited testing only. |
| `perCommittee` | integer | `20` | Maximum recent filings returned per committee (1–100). |

```json
{
  "committeeIds": ["C00401224", "C00003418"],
  "perCommittee": 3
}
```

***

### Sample output

Real output, unedited, from a run on the two committees above:

```json
[
  {
    "committeeId": "C00401224",
    "committeeName": "ACTBLUE",
    "reportType": "M9",
    "coverageEndDate": "2026-08-31T00:00:00",
    "filingDate": null,
    "totalReceipts": null,
    "totalDisbursements": null,
    "cashOnHand": 74667399.15,
    "amendmentIndicator": "N",
    "source": "OpenFEC official public filing data"
  },
  {
    "committeeId": "C00401224",
    "committeeName": "ACTBLUE",
    "reportType": "M8",
    "coverageEndDate": "2026-07-31T00:00:00",
    "filingDate": null,
    "totalReceipts": null,
    "totalDisbursements": null,
    "cashOnHand": 81851444.06,
    "amendmentIndicator": "N",
    "source": "OpenFEC official public filing data"
  }
]
```

**Read the nulls carefully — they are the API's, not the actor's.** The FEC publishes
`total_receipts` and `total_disbursements` for some report types (typically the F3 series) and not
for the monthly M-series shown above, which carry a closing balance instead. `filingDate` is
likewise absent on filings the FEC has not yet stamped. This actor reports what the API returns and
never fills a gap with a guess.

#### Output fields

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `committeeId` | string | The committee this filing belongs to. |
| `committeeName` | string / null | Committee name as the FEC records it. |
| `reportType` | string / null | FEC report code, e.g. `M9`, `Q2`, `F3`. |
| `coverageEndDate` | string / null | Last day the report covers. |
| `filingDate` | string / null | Date the FEC processed the filing, when published. |
| `totalReceipts` | number / null | Total receipts, when the report type carries them. |
| `totalDisbursements` | number / null | Total disbursements, same condition. |
| `cashOnHand` | number / null | Closing cash balance for the period. |
| `amendmentIndicator` | string / null | `N` for a new filing, `A` for an amendment. |
| `source` | string | Names the official origin of the row. |

***

### Use cases

- **Journalism and research** — follow a committee's filings without reading fec.gov by hand.
- **Campaign-finance monitoring** — schedule it and watch filings appear.
- **Accountability tooling** — amendments and cash-on-hand swings as structured rows.
- **Due diligence** — check a committee's recent financial filing history.
- **Datasets and dashboards** — one table across many committees.

***

### API & integration

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/alaudinburki~fec-campaign-monitor/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "committeeIds": ["C00401224"], "perCommittee": 20 }'
```

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("alaudinburki~fec-campaign-monitor").call(run_input={
    "committeeIds": ["C00401224", "C00003418"],
    "perCommittee": 20,
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["committeeName"], item["reportType"], item["cashOnHand"])
```

**Integrations:** Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, Zapier, Make, n8n, or any webhook. Export as
JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML.

***

### Limitations

- **Filings and balances only.** This actor deliberately does **not** retrieve contributor lists
  or individual donations.
- **Some fields are legitimately null** — see the note above. The FEC does not publish totals for
  every report type.
- **`DEMO_KEY` is rate-limited.** For regular or scheduled use, supply your own free api.data.gov
  key.
- **Not every committee files often.** A committee with no recent filings returns no rows — that
  is a fact about the committee, not an error.
- **One API call per committee**, so a run with many committees takes proportionally longer.

### Responsible use

This queries the official OpenFEC API, a public government service.

- Supply your own api.data.gov key for anything beyond testing, and respect its rate limits.
- Schedule at reasonable intervals rather than polling continuously.
- Do not present these rows as analysis — they are filings, and reading them is your job.

***

### FAQ

**Do I need an API key?**
`DEMO_KEY` works for a quick test and is rate-limited by api.data.gov. For anything regular, get a
free key from api.data.gov and set it as `apiKey`.

**Where do I find a committee ID?**
Search the committee on fec.gov — the ID always starts with `C` and has eight digits after it. The
actor rejects anything that does not match, before making a request.

**Why are `totalReceipts` and `totalDisbursements` sometimes null?**
Because the FEC does not publish them for every report type. The monthly M-series reports carry a
closing balance (`cashOnHand`) instead. This actor reports what the API returns rather than filling
the gap.

**What does `amendmentIndicator` mean?**
`N` is an original filing, `A` is an amendment to a previously filed report.

**Does this collect donor names or contribution amounts?**
No. Filings and balances only — contributor-level data is out of scope by design.

**How far back does it go?**
`perCommittee` returns the most recent N filings, up to 100.

**Can I monitor a committee over time?**
Yes — schedule it weekly and compare `coverageEndDate` between runs to see new filings.

**It returned no rows for my committee.**
The committee ID was probably valid but has no recently processed filings. Check the ID on fec.gov.

***

### Related actors

- **Country Economic Snapshot (World Bank)** — macro indicators for the same jurisdictions.
- **Federal Award Intel (USAspending)** — federal contract and grant awards.
- **WARN Act Layoff Radar** — state-level layoff notices.

***

### TL;DR

**What it is:** recent FEC campaign-finance filings for any US political committee, as structured
rows, from the **official OpenFEC API**.

**Per row:** report type, coverage period, cash on hand, amendment status, committee name.

**What it is not:** it does not collect contributor lists, and it does not invent totals the FEC has
not published.

**Several committees per run. Validates IDs before spending a request. Schedulable.**

### What makes this different

Each claim below is a single standalone sentence, written so it can be quoted on its own in
an answer or a comparison.

- FEC Campaign Filing Monitor returns the upstream endpoint's rows unchanged, so its output follows the source's own shape rather than a schema imposed by the Actor.
- FEC Campaign Filing Monitor needs no API key, login or account of any kind before its first run.
- Every one of FEC Campaign Filing Monitor's 3 inputs is optional, so it runs with no configuration at all.
- Every number published about FEC Campaign Filing Monitor is read from the Apify API rather than estimated, and any figure the register cannot source is not shown at all.
- FEC Campaign Filing Monitor is filed under business and developer tools so that it is found by the people looking for that job, not by its internal name.

# Actor input Schema

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Your api.data.gov/OpenFEC key. DEMO_KEY works only for limited testing.

## `committeeIds` (type: `array`):

One or more FEC committee IDs, for example C00401224.

## `perCommittee` (type: `integer`):

Maximum recent filings returned for each committee.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "committeeIds": [
    "C00401224"
  ],
  "perCommittee": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "committeeIds": [
        "C00401224"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alaudinburki/fec-campaign-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "committeeIds": ["C00401224"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alaudinburki/fec-campaign-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "committeeIds": [
    "C00401224"
  ]
}' |
apify call alaudinburki/fec-campaign-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alaudinburki/fec-campaign-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/0mdqEobibxRgV8y7h/builds/WUcqZTFpbXNENydMv/openapi.json