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WRITER

Total Donated

$80,210,868

Contributions

312,329

Unique Donors

8,768

Contributors who listed WRITER as occupation posted $80,210,868 in itemized federal receipts in LobbyVault’s FEC.gov bulk index. Those dollars sit on 312,329 contributions from 8,768 donor records. WRITER is a small donor pool with high repeat itemizing, distinct from ARTIST in the same extract. In compact form that dollar total is $80.2 million in the LobbyVault index of FEC bulk data.

Key figures

  • WRITER occupation itemizations sum to $80,210,868 from 312,329 contributions and 8,768 donors.
  • Repeat itemizing is about 36 contributions per donor record; mean line size is about $257.
  • ARTIST is a separate occupation key.
  • The title is self-reported and is not matched to publication credits.

A narrow pool that itemizes often

8,768 donor records against 312,329 itemizations is about 36 contributions per donor record, among the higher repeat rates in this harvest. $80,210,868 divided by lines is about $257 per contribution. Divided by donors, the mean is about $9,148 per donor record.

High frequency plus a four-digit mean per donor can appear when a modest set of records gives many times, including to multiple committees. The packet does not name recipients. It only supplies the three WRITER facts.

Author, journalist, and screenwriter are other strings if donors used those words. This page is WRITER only.

Self-reporting in creative titles

The FEC does not verify publication credits. Freelance writers, staff writers, and people who write as a side occupation may all type WRITER. Best-efforts collection records the donor’s word, not a guild roster.

A writer who listed ARTIST or SELF-EMPLOYED on other gifts appears in those occupation totals for those lines. Occupation is per transaction.

Full analysis: WRITER occupation money in FEC itemizations →

Questions

How much have WRITER donors given in FEC records?
Occupation WRITER is attached to $80,210,868 in LobbyVault’s FEC bulk index, from 312,329 contributions and 8,768 donor records. The total is itemized occupation money, not a writers-guild roster. Occupation is self-reported free text on FEC Form 3 and Form 3X schedules. Unitemized receipts never enter this occupation total. The live hub may apply cycle filters; this packet is the harvested occupation key.
Why are there so many writer contributions per donor?
312,329 itemizations from 8,768 donors implies about 36 contributions per donor record. Repeat itemizing raises the line count. Mean line size is about $257. The packet does not split causes. Occupation is self-reported free text on FEC Form 3 and Form 3X schedules. Unitemized receipts never enter this occupation total. The live hub may apply cycle filters; this packet is the harvested occupation key.
Is ARTIST included in WRITER?
No. ARTIST is a separate occupation string. This page covers WRITER only: $80,210,868, 312,329 contributions, and 8,768 donors. Occupation is self-reported free text on FEC Form 3 and Form 3X schedules. Unitemized receipts never enter this occupation total. The live hub may apply cycle filters; this packet is the harvested occupation key.
Does WRITER include journalists and authors?
Only if they typed WRITER. Donors who wrote journalist or author are in other strings unless those texts normalized to WRITER. The matching contribution count is 312,329 and the matching donor-record count is 8,768. Those three numbers are occupation-string totals from FEC Form 3/3X itemizations indexed on LobbyVault, not a licensed roster and not a party split.

Occupation is self-reported on FEC Form 3/3X itemizations. Indexed on LobbyVault from FEC bulk data.

Occupation × state ties

All data ties →