Tips for Creating Campaign Databases from Paper Records
Start small
Don't take on the whole state legislature on the first try. State legislators in leadership positions, committee chairs, or candidates from local races are much more manageable subsets.
Staffing
More people does not mean better data quality. If you can, avoid in-house data entry for major projects. If you can't, test potential data-entry personnel for attention to detail before hiring them.
Gathering the data
Make friends with the staff at the local elections board. Create an index of the candidates you want to include in your database. Keep copies of the records on site.
Data entry
Use a double-entry system. Give each contribution a unique identification number that allows you to quickly retrieve it in paper form. Enter the name of the contributor exactly as it was written on the campaign records, even if it is incorrect.
Editing the data
Keep both an "edited contributor" and an "original contributor" field in your database. To identify which acronym belongs to which organization, sort your database by address. Never guess. If a contributor has two different addresses, confirm that it is the same person or organization. If family members give from the same address, you can combine them by using an "and/or" notation in the "edited contributor" field.
Coding contributions
Code contributions AFTER the database has been edited. Use the Center for Responsive Politics coding system. Avoid identifying organizations by name only. Create a field on the database that lists your source for the coding. After coding, sort by industry code and check for mistakes.
Identifying individuals
Prioritize. Identify top donors first. Always confirm that an individual at two different addresses is the same person. Call them directly if you need to. If your state or locality doesn't require employer or occupation information, you can match the following with your database: - lists of professionals regulated by state agencies - information from a CD-ROM telephone directory (for example, ProCD) - local companies' board of directors and officers - local companies' contributors to state and federal PACs - your newspaper's press files Sort your database by address to find individuals who work at a particular organization. Create a field in the database for the initials of the staff person who identified the individual. If you're in a state or locality that mandates employer or occupation information by law, contact the campaign for more information on unidentified donors.
Fact checking
Check your database with the candidates' cover pages. If the totals for a candidate don't match your database, check each contribution individually. Treat your database suspiciously before writing your story: sort, sort, and sort some more. If you are using a campaign database provided by the state, first check it with paper records to ensure its accuracy.
Final note
While you should do everything you can to ensure your database's accuracy, don't let the idea of the "flawless" database control you or your project. Diane Renzulli can be reached at (202) 783-3900 or by email at drenzulli@publicintegriy.org