These past three years, consortium reporters ranged from those who had never used a database to those who could analyze contributions in their sleep. Find out what your newsroom's database software is and play with it. Try to find any contribution databases that exist in your state and, at first, put your local lawmakers into a smaller database. Get campaign data on your local congressional candidates from the Center for Responsive Politics, the nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C. that makes Federal Election Commission data available to reporters. Being able to do this will enable you to better understand the power plays going on in your community.
Money is access.
Access is power. You won't be able to analyze contributions in a database for the first time and walk away with a five-day series, but by becoming more comfortable with the process, you'll see firsthand how vital money is to your local and congressional candidates. To the reporters who feel comfortable working with campaign finance databases, enhance the data you have. Some states don't require employer and occupation information for individual donors. Run a list of hospital executives through your data and see if there are matches.