Explainer
How campaign contributions are tracked, and where a company's money shows up
Political money can feel hidden, but a large part of it is public record. In federal elections, corporations can't give money to candidates at all. What they can do is set up and run a PAC, give to Super PACs and pay lobbyists, and each of those leaves a filing. Here's how each one is tracked.
The rule that shapes everything
The Federal Election Commission lists corporations, including nonprofit corporations, as prohibited sources: a campaign can't accept their money. A corporation can, however, use its treasury to create and run a separate segregated fund, better known as a corporate PAC. The PAC raises voluntary contributions from people connected to the company, such as its managers and shareholders, and gives that money to candidates and parties within federal limits.
Where each kind of money is disclosed
- Corporate PAC giving. PACs file regular reports with the FEC listing what they raised and every contribution they made to candidates, parties and other committees. Anyone can search them at FEC.gov.
- Super PAC money. Super PACs can take unlimited contributions, including from corporate treasuries, and spend on ads for or against candidates, but they don't give to candidates and can't coordinate with them. Their donors appear in their own FEC reports.
- Lobbying. Companies that pay lobbyists report it quarterly under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, with the amount and the issues, on LDA.gov.
- State races. Each state runs its own campaign-finance system, with its own rules on whether corporations may give directly.
None of this is secret. It's scattered across databases that weren't built for a shopper with a product in hand.
How ChooseWell brings it together
When you scan a product, ChooseWell links it to the company that owns the brand and adds up that company's corporate PAC giving, federal lobbying, Super PAC giving and state-level giving since 2024. The Political score shows the total as Low, Moderate or High, the share of PAC money that went to each party, and lobbying spend with the issues lobbied. Federal data refreshes weekly; state data loads monthly.
What this record means, and what it doesn't
Disclosures show where money went, when and how much. They don't show why. A company PAC's money comes from people who chose to give to it, and it isn't the same as the company's own treasury. Money paid as trade-association dues, or routed through groups that don't name their donors, doesn't appear in any public source, so a low total means nothing large was found, not that there was none. ChooseWell does not count personal donations by ordinary employees. Our article on reading a company's political spending goes deeper on each figure.
How ChooseWell shows this
The Political score on each product page lists the total, the party split and the filings behind them, with a link to each source.
Check it yourself
Scan any barcode in ChooseWell to see the maker's open recalls, flagged ingredients and political spending, each with its public source. Free to scan, no account.
