NGOs have come under scrutiny as potential conduits for reckless spending and nepotism. With growing interest and advances in data processing, analyzing NGO finances and affiliations is now an achievable task rather than an insurmountable one. While IRS Form 990s provide transparency, the sheer volume of NGOs—over 16,000 in Minnesota alone—makes meaningful analysis challenging. After extensive data cleaning and database development, I’ve built the infrastructure needed for investigative research. This includes searchable records of organizations, individuals, and financial data, enabling in-depth analysis.
For Part 1, I compiled a list of all Minnesota legislators—House and Senate—and cross-referenced them with Minnesota Based NGO filings to identify affiliations. These interactive visualizations reveal relationships between legislators and nonprofit organizations. Using a collection of SQLite databases, the scripts extract and consolidate affiliation data, generating network visualizations that highlight patterns and connections.
Chord Diagram of Legislator-NGO Affiliations
This visualization presents a chord diagram that maps out the connections between legislators and organizations. Each individual is represented as a node, with arcs linking them to the organizations they have been associated with. The interactive design allows users to explore how different individuals and groups intersect, providing a clear view of overlapping affiliations. This visualization is particularly useful for identifying patterns of shared involvement across multiple organizations.
Interactive Network Graph and Data Table
This network graph offers an alternative perspective, displaying legislators and NGOs as nodes in an interconnected web. Legislators are visually distinguished from NGOs, and the size of each node reflects its level of connectivity. Users can click on any node to view its direct connections, allowing for deeper exploration of how individuals and organizations are linked. Alongside the graph, an interactive table provides a structured view of the underlying data, making it easy to sort and filter affiliations for further analysis.
CSV File of Legislator NGOs
For those who are just interested in the data, the below download button will provide a CSV file of the data.
Notes:
Ultimately, it is up to you, the viewer, to interpret the data, determine what is relevant, and conduct your own research into specific matches that interest you. While name matching is generally accurate, it is not foolproof. Common names can lead to false matches, while slight variations in how a name is filed may result in missed connections. Additionally, many NGOs play a vital role in society, providing valuable services and support. A match between a legislator and an NGO does not inherently imply wrongdoing or a negative association.