Software Engineer itemized contributions in the 2014 cycle

What $1,196,965 measures in this occupation–cycle cell

$1,196,965 is the sum of itemized individual contributions whose occupation field matches SOFTWARE ENGINEER and whose cycle equals 2014. 1,384 is the count of those rows. 555 is the unique-donor count inside the same filter. Dividing dollars by donors yields about $2,157 per donor in this cell; dividing by rows yields about $865 per contribution line. Those ratios are arithmetic on the packet. They are not typical-gift surveys and not median gifts.

Do not add $1,196,965 to another cycle and call the sum the occupation total unless you are rebuilding the extract. The occupation-wide figure is already published as $64,582,668. Do not subtract $1,196,965 from a cycle-wide FEC total and treat the remainder as “everyone else” without naming that other extract. The live tables are Software Engineer donations and 2014 election cycle. This prose is a snapshot of the join.

What the string SOFTWARE ENGINEER includes — and excludes

The occupation-wide total for SOFTWARE ENGINEER on this extract is $64,582,668 ($64.6 million). That figure includes every indexed cycle for the same string, not only 2014. $1,196,965 is the 2014 slice (1.9%). SOFTWARE ENGINEER is the two-word string. ENGINEER, PROGRAMMER, DEVELOPER, SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, and SWE are other keys. The join does not recode those labels and is not a tech-payroll census.

555 donors in 2014 is not the occupation’s unique-person count across years. Repeat givers can appear in several cycles; the occupation hub and this join use different filters. $64,582,668 can therefore move when later cycles are added to the extract even if the 2014 cell is unchanged. Quote the occupation total and the cycle total as two sentences.

The 2014 reporting window, not a single Election Day

The 2014 value is the FEC two-year election cycle that closes on the 2014 federal election calendar. It is a reporting window on individual contribution records, not a single Election Day total and not a count of offices on the ballot. Receipts dated inside that cycle window stay here; receipts dated in another even-year cycle sit on that other join. Inside that window, Software Engineer accounts for $1,196,965 on 1,384 contributions from 555 donors.

Presidential-year versus midterm labels describe the federal calendar. They do not appear as extra dollar fields in this packet. The facts are 2014, $1,196,965, 1,384, and 555. Do not import turnout, ad-spend, or independent-expenditure totals into this cell. Those are other schedules and other datasets.

Why 1,384 contributions is not 555 people twice

1,384 contributions and 555 donors describe different units. A row is an itemized receipt line. A donor is a unique person inside this occupation–cycle filter as LobbyVault matches names. 1,384 divided by 555 is the mean lines per donor in this cell; $1,196,965 divided by 555 is about $2,157 per donor; $1,196,965 divided by 1,384 is about $865 per line. Means are not medians. Large gifts pull the mean up. The packet does not publish a median.

Joint fundraising, partnership attributions, and spouses who each file can inflate rows faster than donors. That pattern is normal in FEC itemizations. It is not evidence of a scheme. Quote both integers: 1,384 lines, 555 donors, $1,196,965 dollars, cycle 2014, occupation SOFTWARE ENGINEER.

Limits of a filer-typed occupation in 2014

This page is not a claim that donations fund federal spending. FEC individual contributions and USAspending awards are different datasets. The join here is occupation × cycle inside FEC.gov only. It is not a ranking of occupations, not medical or political advice, and not a statement that Software Engineer as a profession acted in concert in 2014.

Correlation across years is not in this packet. This file does not publish a 2014 versus prior-cycle change because a second cycle total is not in the facts. If you need a time series, open other occupation–cycle ties individually and keep each cell labeled. Do not subtract a number you do not have.

Questions

What is the 2014 total for occupation SOFTWARE ENGINEER?

Itemized individual contributions with occupation SOFTWARE ENGINEER total $1,196,965 in the 2014 FEC cycle. LobbyVault counts 1,384 contributions and 555 unique donors in that cell. The occupation-wide total for the same string on this extract is $64,582,668, so 2014 is 1.9% of that roll-up. Figures come from FEC.gov aggregates. Labels are filer-entered.

Does the 2014 figure include every cycle for Software Engineer?

No. $1,196,965 is the 2014 slice only. The occupation hub still shows $64,582,668 across the extract. This page is a join: occupation string plus even-year cycle. It is not a restatement of Software Engineer donations and not a restatement of 2014 election cycle. Adding other cycles here would invent dollars the packet does not list.

Are 1,384 contributions the same as unique people?

The join lists 555 unique donors and 1,384 contribution lines for SOFTWARE ENGINEER in 2014. A person can give more than once, so lines exceed donors. About $2,157 per donor and $865 per line are means from $1,196,965, not medians and not typical gifts. Name matching can split or merge people. This is not a job-census headcount.

Are similar occupation strings merged into SOFTWARE ENGINEER?

No. The filter is the exact occupation string SOFTWARE ENGINEER as filers typed it. Nearby titles stay on other keys listed under all occupations. The string is not a NAICS code, not a BLS occupation, and not a PAC. See Software Engineer donations for this key’s all-cycle table and all FEC ties for other joins. Cite FEC.gov.