# Follow the Money: cited contribution inflows to a committee (`citature/follow-the-money`) Actor

Cited itemized contribution dollars flowing into an FEC committee, aggregated by the contributor's state of origin. Every answer carries a receipt: the exact source, when it was retrieved, coverage caveats, the committee-id crosswalk, and guardrails.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/citature/follow-the-money.md
- **Developed by:** [citature](https://apify.com/citature) (community)
- **Categories:** AI
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$30.00 / 1,000 answer serveds

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Follow the Money — cited contribution inflows

Trace itemized contribution dollars flowing **into an FEC committee**, aggregated
by the **contributor's state of origin**, largest first — returned with a full
citation receipt. Built for AI agents and analysts asking "where did this
committee's money come from?" and needing an answer with the source attached.

Data comes straight from the **Federal Election Commission** — the primary,
public-domain federal record. No aggregator, no scoring.

### What you can ask

- Which **states** did the money flowing into committee **C00401224** come from in
  the **2024** cycle?
- Across all cycles in coverage, what is the geographic origin of a committee's
  itemized contributions?

Keywords: follow the money, campaign finance, FEC committee, contribution
inflows, donor geography, money in politics, PAC funding sources, where does the
money come from, committee contributions by state, election funding.

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `committee_id` | string | yes | FEC committee id, e.g. `C00401224`. |
| `cycle` | integer | no | Restrict to one cycle; omit for every cycle in coverage. |
| `limit` | integer 1–500 | no (default 50) | Max ranked rows. |

```json
{ "committee_id": "C00401224", "cycle": 2024, "limit": 5 }
```

### Output — an answer with a receipt

The actor returns one receipt object (also stored as the run's `OUTPUT`). Each row
is a contributor state of origin flowing to the committee entity — **no
individual-person detail**. `matches` declares the committee-id crosswalk the
answer relied on.

```json
{
  "answer": [
    {
      "cycle": 2024,
      "committee_entity_id": "cmte_9a1c…",
      "committee_id": "C00401224",
      "contributor_state": "CA",
      "total_cents": 128400000,
      "contribution_count": 5120
    }
  ],
  "citations": [
    {
      "source": "fec",
      "source_label": "U.S. Federal Election Commission",
      "query_url": "https://www.fec.gov/files/bulk-downloads/2024/indiv24.zip",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-01-02T00:00:00.000Z",
      "as_of": null,
      "cache": "cached",
      "record_id": "C00401224"
    }
  ],
  "coverage": [
    "Coverage reflects records currently in citature's dataset, not the full upstream history.",
    "Contribution figures are entity-level aggregates; citature ships no individual-person contribution records."
  ],
  "guardrails": [
    "Research over public-domain federal records — not legal, financial, or eligibility advice.",
    "citature reports what the record says. It never renders a compliance verdict, a screening pass/fail, or a recommendation.",
    "Entity-level records only (committees, candidates, recipients, agencies, contracts). No individual-person data."
  ],
  "matches": [
    {
      "match_method": "exact",
      "match_confidence": 1,
      "left_key": "fec.recipient_committee_id",
      "right_key": "citature.entity_committee.committee_id",
      "note": "recipient committee resolved to a citature entity on the FEC committee id"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "0.1.0"
}
```

Money is always integer **cents** (`total_cents`). The flow is a geographic origin
into a committee entity; citature ships no individual-contributor records.

### Guardrails

- Research over public-domain federal records — **not** legal, financial, or
  eligibility advice.
- citature reports what the record says. It never renders a compliance verdict, a
  screening pass/fail, or a recommendation.
- Entity-level records only. No individual-person data is ever returned.

### Pricing

Pay per successful answer. You are charged only when an answer is served; a
rejected or failed request is never billed.

# Actor input Schema

## `committee_id` (type: `string`):

The FEC committee id whose contribution inflows to trace, e.g. C00401224.

## `cycle` (type: `integer`):

Restrict to one even election cycle, e.g. 2024. Omit to include every cycle in citature's dataset.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of ranked state-of-origin rows to return (1 to 500).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "committee_id": "C00401224",
  "limit": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `receipts` (type: `string`):

No description

## `receipt` (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 = {
    "committee_id": "C00401224"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("citature/follow-the-money").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 = { "committee_id": "C00401224" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("citature/follow-the-money").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "committee_id": "C00401224"
}' |
apify call citature/follow-the-money --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=citature/follow-the-money",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/qdFDPWdGOnHTeBCAs/builds/RS5tDVbiyWPPv9dy3/openapi.json