How much have political consultant-labeled filers given federally?

The POLITICAL CONSULTANT industry cluster totals $4,327,768 in itemized FEC contributions, from 9,955 contributions and 234 donors. Filers wrote that title in employer or occupation. The figure is their disclosed gifts, not a tally of client spending. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

Is this the same as lobbyist donations?

No. LOBBYIST is a separate FEC self-report string with its own industry page. This packet’s $4,327,768 is POLITICAL CONSULTANT only. The facts do not identify overlapping people. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

How many unique political-consultant-labeled donors are there?

LobbyVault counts 234 donors and 9,955 contributions. Unique-donor count is matching disclosure text, not a headcount of consulting firms. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

Why is political consultant on the industry list?

LobbyVault industries rank FEC employer/occupation self-reports. Job titles share the index with company names because FEC.gov does not attach NAICS. Top employer in the facts is POLITICAL CONSULTANT. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

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Political consultant money in federal elections

People who wrote POLITICAL CONSULTANT in the employer or occupation box on federal filings account for $4,327,768 in itemized receipts on FEC.gov. Only 234 donors produced 9,955 contributions—about 43 gifts per person and a per-donor mean near $18,495. The title describes a trade that works on campaigns; the dollars are still the filers’ own itemized gifts as disclosed, not a client’s budget and not a NAICS professional-services code.

Key figures

POLITICAL CONSULTANT FEC strings sum to $4,327,768.
9,955 contributions came from 234 donors.
About $435 per gift and $18,495 per donor on a simple mean.
The total is filers’ gifts, not client expenditures.
LOBBYIST is a separate industry key.

A small roster, $4,327,768

Two hundred thirty-four unique donors produced 9,955 contributions totaling $4,327,768. Mean gift size is about $435. The high per-donor mean follows from a thin unique-person count, not from a packet fact about typical retainers. Top employer is POLITICAL CONSULTANT, so many filers used the title as the employer field (common for principals of small shops).

Firm names (a consulting LLC) are other industry keys if typed in the employer box. $4,327,768 is the title-string cluster.

Title versus firm, and versus lobbyist

LOBBYIST is a separate industry key in this same harvest wave. The packets do not identify overlap between people who sometimes write political consultant and sometimes write lobbyist. Do not add those totals together. Each string is its own $ amount.

Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Occupation breakdowns remain the companion title index.

What 9,955 contributions omit

No client list, no party of the consultant’s clients, no cycle year of the gifts. Recipients of these 9,955 itemized gifts are on FEC.gov and on the POLITICAL CONSULTANT donor table—not inferred from the occupation word.

Unique-donor count (234) is matching text, not a census of the consulting trade.

Boundaries

This page does not treat the $4,327,768 as money consultants spent for clients. It is money tagged to people who listed POLITICAL CONSULTANT on their own contribution records. Motive and client relationships are not in the facts.

All industries lists consulting-firm employer names. Occupation breakdowns list related titles.

Source

Industry POLITICAL CONSULTANT; $4,327,768; 9,955 contributions; 234 donors; top employer POLITICAL CONSULTANT. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault.

The POLITICAL CONSULTANT donor table holds names for 234 unique donors, 9,955 itemized contributions, and $4,327,768. Unitemized gifts are omitted. The dollars are the filers’ own itemized gifts as disclosed, not a tally of client budgets. Consulting-LLC employer names are other keys if typed instead of the title. LOBBYIST is a neighboring industry key; the packets do not identify overlap, so the two totals are not added. Occupation breakdowns list related titles. All industries lists consulting-firm employer names. Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault. About 43 itemized gifts per person and a per-donor mean near $18,495 follow from a thin unique-person roster. Mean gift size about $435 uses total divided by contribution count. This page does not infer client relationships from the occupation word. LDA lobbying reports are a different dataset. The 234 unique donors are matching text, not a census of the consulting trade. Cite FEC.gov via LobbyVault.

Consultant-title gifts versus client spending and lobbyist keys

POLITICAL CONSULTANT keyed $4,327,768 from 9,955 contributions and 234 donors. About 43 itemized gifts per person and a per-donor mean near $18,495 follow from a thin unique-person roster. Mean gift size about $435 uses total divided by contribution count. Unitemized gifts are omitted. The dollars are the filers’ own itemized gifts as disclosed, not a tally of client budgets. Consulting-LLC employer names are other keys if typed instead of the title. LOBBYIST is a neighboring industry key; the packets do not identify overlap, so the two totals are not added. The 234 unique donors are matching text, not a census of the consulting trade. Top employer matches POLITICAL CONSULTANT.

Open the POLITICAL CONSULTANT donor table for names and recipient committees of these 9,955 itemized gifts. All industries lists consulting-firm employer names. Occupation breakdowns list related titles. Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault. This page does not infer client relationships from the occupation word. The packet has no cycle year and no party of the consultant’s clients. Amendments can revise historical amounts. The four facts stay $4,327,768, 9,955 contributions, 234 donors, and top employer POLITICAL CONSULTANT. LDA lobbying reports are a different dataset and are omitted here. Repeat the four facts when citing this page: $4,327,768, 9,955 contributions, 234 donors, top employer POLITICAL CONSULTANT. Unitemized gifts remain omitted. The donor table, all industries, and occupation breakdowns are the only internal links this packet authorizes. LOBBYIST remains a separate key.

Questions

How much have political consultant-labeled filers given federally?: The POLITICAL CONSULTANT industry cluster totals $4,327,768 in itemized FEC contributions, from 9,955 contributions and 234 donors. Filers wrote that title in employer or occupation. The figure is their disclosed gifts, not a tally of client spending. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.
Is this the same as lobbyist donations?: No. LOBBYIST is a separate FEC self-report string with its own industry page. This packet’s $4,327,768 is POLITICAL CONSULTANT only. The facts do not identify overlapping people. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.
How many unique political-consultant-labeled donors are there?: LobbyVault counts 234 donors and 9,955 contributions. Unique-donor count is matching disclosure text, not a headcount of consulting firms. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.
Why is political consultant on the industry list?: LobbyVault industries rank FEC employer/occupation self-reports. Job titles share the index with company names because FEC.gov does not attach NAICS. Top employer in the facts is POLITICAL CONSULTANT. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault.