THE LEDGER
Dark Money Investigation

Dark Money Tracer

Trace the flow of untraceable money from anonymous donors through 501(c)(4) nonprofits to Super PACs and into elections.

Top Dark Money Organizations

Select an organization to trace its money flow chain

View full list
Loading organizations...

How Dark Money Works

“Dark money” refers to political spending by organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. Here is how the pipeline typically operates:

Corporation / Wealthy Donor

Wants to influence elections anonymously

Donates to
501(c)(4) Nonprofit

Tax-exempt “social welfare” org — donor identities are hidden

Transfers to
Super PAC

Can spend unlimited amounts on elections — must report spending but not original donors

Funds
Attack Ads & Election Spending

Voters see the ads but never know who originally paid for them

Data sourced from FEC filings, IRS 990 records (via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer), and OpenSecrets. Dark money chain tracing connects nonprofit political expenditures to downstream Super PAC transfers and independent expenditures. Not all money flows are traceable through public records.