Federal contributions itemized with ZIP 02138

The $110.1 million Cambridge ZIP figure

Two hundred five thousand eight hundred forty-one itemized lines produce $110,135,859. Leading-zero ZIPs are easy to drop in spreadsheets; the FEC stores 02138 as a five-character code, and LobbyVault keeps that format so Cambridge is not confused with 2138. Every dollar in the total appeared on a committee report with that ZIP. If your export strips the zero, you will undercount or mismatch rows.

University-adjacent ZIPs often attract searchers who expect faculty and student gifts. The public record does not tag lines as campus versus town. A professor, a hospital PAC, and a joint-fundraising committee can all print 02138. The $110,135,859 sum does not disclose that mix. Occupation text on individual receipts, when present, lives on those rows and is not part of this packet.

Cambridge is a small city with a large federal-itemization footprint under this one code. That combination is a reason to read the table rather than to assume a uniform donor type. $110,135,859 is the labeled total. It is not a Harvard University giving report and not a Cambridge city campaign-finance file.

Why 205,841 receipts matter

The mean itemized amount is about $535 ($110,135,859 / 205,841). A high receipt count with a mid-hundreds mean usually means many modest itemizations rather than a few nine-figure transfers, though large lines can still hide in the tail. Sort the ZIP 02138 FEC page by amount to see whether the total is broad or top-heavy. Breadth and a fat tail can coexist in the same ZIP.

Receipt count is not a people count. Repeat itemizers, payroll deductions reported on separate dates, and memo entries all add rows. This packet has no unique-donor field, so 205,841 should stay labeled as contribution lines. Anyone converting that number into Cambridge residents is inventing a statistic the FEC ZIP table does not contain.

What FEC ZIP 02138 does not measure

The aggregate is not a Harvard University giving report, not a Cambridge city campaign-finance file, and not a Massachusetts state-election total. It is federal itemizations only, as reported to FEC.gov. State and municipal filings sit in other databases with different itemization rules.

Occupation strings on individual receipts are outside this packet. Do not infer a faculty-versus-finance split from the ZIP total alone. If you need names, the donor directory is the next table. If you need to rank Massachusetts mailing codes, use the all-ZIP index rather than adding 02138 to neighboring codes by guesswork.

Committee addresses in a residential ZIP

ZIP 02138 totals can include joint-fundraising and PAC addresses, not only residents. Cambridge has both homes and organizational mailrooms. One committee line can outweigh hundreds of individual itemizations. Read the contributor column when a receipt looks large relative to a $535 mean. The leading zero does not make the ZIP more residential; it is only a New England formatting fact.

Leading zeros and the 02138 paper trail

Massachusetts ZIPs are a common source of broken joins. FEC stores 02138 as five characters. A CSV that opens in a spreadsheet may show 2138, and a later merge will miss every Cambridge row. LobbyVault keeps the leading zero on the ZIP 02138 FEC page so the $110,135,859 total stays attached to the right code. If you export, force the column to text before you sort or join.

The 205,841 receipts behind that total are still committee lines, not a campus census. Harvard Square geography explains the search, not the mix of payers. A hospital PAC, a faculty itemizer, and a joint-fundraising committee can share 02138. The $535 mean is an average of those unlike rows. Sampling the largest receipts is how you see whether the mean is a pile of modest gifts or a few transfers sitting on a wide base.

Nothing in this packet adds a cycle year or a party split. If you need those cuts, they live on individual receipts or in other LobbyVault tables, not in the ZIP rollup. Use the all-ZIP index to rank 02138 against other codes with the same two facts: dollars and contribution count. Use the donor directory when the question is a name rather than a mailing code.

Using the 02138 hub and ZIP index

Open the ZIP 02138 FEC page for the itemized list behind $110,135,859. Rank other New England codes on the all-ZIP index. Keep leading zeros when you search, or you will miss Massachusetts rows. This guide cites only the packet’s total and contribution count. It does not add cycle years, party splits, or employer lists.

Questions

How much federal money is itemized under ZIP 02138?

LobbyVault shows $110,135,859 across 205,841 FEC contributions that list contributor ZIP 02138. The source is FEC.gov itemizations. Keep the leading zero; Massachusetts codes are five digits. PAC and joint-fundraising addresses can appear in the same ZIP as Cambridge households. The total is a mailing-code sum, not a Harvard University giving report.

Is ZIP 02138 the same as Harvard donations?

No. 02138 is a Cambridge mailing code that includes the Harvard Square area, but FEC lines are not tagged as university gifts. Faculty, neighbors, PACs, and joint-fundraising committees can all use 02138. The $110,135,859 total is a ZIP sum, not an institution report.

What does 205,841 contributions mean?

It is the count of itemized receipts with ZIP 02138, not unique people. Dividing $110,135,859 by that count yields a mean of about $535. Repeat givers and committee transfers both add rows. This packet does not include a unique-donor total.

Where can I see the underlying 02138 filings?

The ZIP 02138 FEC page lists the itemized table LobbyVault built from FEC.gov behind $110,135,859 and 205,841 receipts. Compare other codes on the all-ZIP index using the same two facts: dollars and contribution count. For person-level records, use the donor directory rather than treating the ZIP rollup as a name list. This packet has no unique-donor count.