SF Ethics Commission

Campaign Finance Database

Enter the Campaign Finance Database

About the Database

The campaign finance database is the San Francisco Ethics Commission's repository for records relating to campaign finance, lobbyist and campaign consultant filings. It can answer questions about who is contributing money, who is receiving money, and how it is being spent. Use the campaign finance database to research campaign contributions and expenditures, or review campaign, lobbyist, and campaign consultant statements and filing history.

The database provides live access to the Ethics Commission's records. Filing records are accessible as they are processed by the Ethics Commission. Transactions can be extracted or searched for e-filed campaign finance Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) forms 460, 496 and 497. All transactions are posted live to the system as they are e-filed and are accessible immediately within the “Advanced Search” or an export of a committee's transactions, with the exception of annual transaction exports which represent an export of all transactions in the database as of the previous calendar day.

How To Use The Database

For assistance, please look at the frequently asked questions page, browse the news updates, or call the Ethics Commission at 415-252-3100.

News

April 17, 2009 - Committee records and transactions in the advanced search can now be searched by committee ID number.  Partial and complete ID numbers can be used in a search.

March 10, 2009 - The key to help interpret the annual/committee/candidate transaction exports has been updated to reflect the January 16, 2009 enhancements.

February 2, 2009 - Notice regarding updates to the "Advanced Search" on February 2, 2009 for the semi-annual deadline.

January 16, 2009 - New enhancements to the exported transactions for e-filed forms 460, 496, 497 in Microsoft Excel format.

December 10, 2008 - The SFEDS server will be down for scheduled maintenance from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM, December 10, 2008.

November 4, 2008 - The key to help interpret the annual/committee/candidate transaction exports has been updated to provide documentation for contributions reported on FPPC Form 496 Section 3.

October 22, 2008 - Notice regarding updates to the "Advanced Search" on October 23, 2008 for the pre-election deadline.

October 21, 2008 - The SFEDS server will be down for scheduled maintenance from 9:00 P.M., October 21, 2008 to 1:00 A.M., October 22, 2008.

October 20, 2008 - The SFEDS server will be down for scheduled maintenance from 9:00 P.M., October 20, 2008 to 1:00 A.M., October 21, 2008.

October 17, 2008 - The SFEDS server will be down for scheduled maintenance from 10:00 P.M., October 18, 2008 to 4:00 A.M., October 19, 2008.

October 8, 2008 - The campaign finance database server will be down for scheduled maintenance from 10:00 P.M., October 8, 2008 to 6:00 A.M., October 9, 2008.

October 6, 2008 - Notice regarding updates to the "Advanced Search" on October 6, 2008 for the pre-election deadline.

September 2, 2008 - A key is now available to help interpret the annual/committee/candidate transaction exports.

August 13, 2008 - The campaign finance database server will be down for scheduled maintenance on Saturday, August 16th, from 6:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M.

July 30, 2008 - Notice regarding updates to the "Advanced Search" on July 31, 2008 for the semi-annual deadline.

July 16, 2008 - Export transactions for e-filed forms 460, 496, 497 in Microsoft Excel format grouped by year.

June 25, 2008 - Export transactions for e-filed forms 460, 496, 497 in Microsoft Excel format grouped by candidate or committee.

June 10, 2008 - Campaign consultant filings are now integrated into the campaign finance database. 

June 2, 2008 - Kiosk-mode is now available for the campaign finance database.  

May 6, 2008 - Lobbyist filings are now integrated into the campaign finance database.  

April 30, 2008 - The new campaign finance database search engine is now on-line.  

System Requirements

• Any computer with Internet access.
• Web browser software such as Internet Explorer (6+), Mozilla Firefox (1+), etc.
• A compression utility such as WinZip or Stuffit Expander.  (Windows XP and MacOS X 10.3 or greater have a built in compression utility so there is no need to install a compression utility.)
• PDF reader such as Adobe Reader or FoxitReader.

The Ethics Commission maintains four computers that meet the above requirements that are available for public use between the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday.