Citizens United for Transparency investigates and documents how money and influence move through NGOs, government agencies, and corporations — from activist funding networks to lobbying and public contracts — so citizens, journalists, and policymakers can judge for themselves.
A 501(c)(3) public charity. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Modern influence rarely announces itself. It moves through grant chains, fiscal sponsorships, shell entities, lobbying disclosures no one reads, and public records no one requests. Citizens United for Transparency exists to do that unglamorous work — requesting, reading, cross-referencing, and publishing — so that the public record actually reaches the public.
We examine nonprofits and NGOs, government at every level, and corporations with equal rigor, including the funding behind advocacy and activist campaigns on all sides. Transparency is not an attack on any cause; it is the condition under which every cause can be fairly judged.
"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman." — Justice Louis D. Brandeis
Each program produces public, sourced, plain-language research that anyone can verify.
Mapping grant flows, fiscal sponsorships, and governance across the nonprofit sector — including the funders behind major advocacy and activist campaigns.
Filing and publishing public-records requests, tracking agency spending and contracts, and pressing for open-data compliance at every level of government.
Documenting lobbying, political spending, ESG and philanthropic commitments, and the gap between what corporations say publicly and what they fund privately.
Free guides that teach anyone to file records requests, read a Form 990, trace a grant, and hold local institutions accountable without a newsroom behind them.
Current coverage of data center siting fights, ratepayer proceedings, surveillance technology, and nonprofit disclosure — every claim linked to a primary source.
Texts, mailers, yard signs, legal appeals, and television buys have turned local data center fights into six- and seven-figure contests. We priced the tools, traced the money through four live disputes, and labeled every figure by who produced it.
Organized opposition to data centers more than doubled since December 2025, disrupting roughly $130 billion in projects. The tracker counting it is run by an AI intelligence firm that does not say who pays for it.
Dozens of cities have cancelled contracts, a state audit found violations, two members of Congress asked the FTC to investigate, and the courts are split.
FERC opened dockets across six grid regions, five state consumer advocates filed jointly, and four states moved on large-load tariffs.
Our latest release, plus sample entries to be replaced as new research is published.
Working with partner NGOs to examine the funding sources behind groups opposing critical U.S. infrastructure, including AI data centers.
A single, nonpartisan funding-disclosure standard that applies equally to every group seeking to influence infrastructure decisions.
Urging communities and policymakers to decide questions about AI data centers on verified information rather than rumor.
Calling for verified, publicly posted resource-use figures so communities decide on facts, not worst-case estimates.
Open records, published staff analyses, and clear disclosure so communities trust the permitting process regardless of outcome.
A cross-ideological analysis of the foundations, DAFs, and fiscal sponsors behind the decade's largest advocacy campaigns.
Which agencies answer public-records requests — and which quietly run out the clock. Based on 1,200 tracked requests.
Comparing Fortune 500 public commitments against their lobbying disclosures and trade-association dues.
Records requests, database access, and careful research take time and resources. As a 501(c)(3) public charity, we rely on readers — not the institutions we cover. Your gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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