followncmoney.org

What It Is

FollowNCMoney is the North Carolina Outside Money Tracker from the Institute for Southern Studies. It positions itself as North Carolina’s first searchable state-level database of independent campaign spending. It focuses on the influence of outside groups—such as corporations, unions, PACs, Super PACs, 501c4s, 501c6s, and 527 organizations—on state elections after the Citizens United decision. Its intended users include the public, journalists, policymakers, and researchers.

Core Features and Data

The core of the site is a detailed spending table. Users can sort by committee, date, race, candidate, and amount. Clicking a group/committee shows all spending by that organization, while clicking a state-level office or candidate lets users track spending related to that race. The page states that it covers non-party, non-candidate spending in the 2012 election cycle, with a total of $14,514,947.07. Listed data sources include the NC State Board of Elections, the North Carolina General Assembly, and the Internal Revenue Service. One important caveat: some spending reports do not clearly state whether the spending supported or opposed a candidate, so the site makes inferences based on available evidence. For rigorous research, the original source materials should be checked.

Pricing, Platform, and Support

The page does not mention pricing, subscriptions, trials, or payment methods; overall, it appears to be more of a public-interest data project. The platform is a web-based database, with no visible information about an API, exports, dashboards, or third-party integrations. Support is lightweight: it only mentions a News Tip Hotline, where users can report missing ads or data issues by email.

Pros, Cons, and Who It’s For

Its strengths are a focused topic, transparent data sources, and practical search dimensions. It is especially useful for investigative journalists, political communication researchers, public policy organizations, and groups interested in campaign finance transparency. The main drawbacks are that the data shown is concentrated on the 2012 cycle, making it less current, and that it lacks features common in modern data products, such as APIs, bulk downloads, visual analytics, and clear ongoing update documentation. For marketing or SEO professionals, it is not a general-purpose marketing tool, but it can be useful for studying political advertising, issue advocacy, and the influence of outside organizations.

Access from China and Alternatives

Access from mainland China cannot be determined from the page alone, so it should be considered unknown. Since the content is focused on U.S. local politics, payment is not a major issue. For broader or more up-to-date U.S. political finance data, alternatives include OpenSecrets, FollowTheMoney.org, the FEC database, and public databases from state election boards.