Build Trust Through Transparency

Transparency Resources

This is a place where we will list any articles, media, tools, services, organizations, and anything else we can find regarding the subject of Transparency. This will be an ongoing process, so feel free to suggest new things to add to this page!

Articles & Papers

resource category date
How transparency helps foundations advance their missions Transparency is sometimes perceived as a stick with which to beat foundations . But recent initiatives are showing that transparency, more than being a duty, can actually help foundations achieve their goals. Non-Profit 2010-03-11
Introducing the Cycle of Transparency This "Cycle of Transparency" demonstrates, in one image, the specific actions and the variety of actors that need to work together to create the open, transparent government we seek. Government 2010-03-10
Open Philanthropy: A Modest Manifesto One of the things we've learned from the open source software movement is that codes of professional practice matter - the early licensing efforts to create code that developers could access, use, improve, and share again are critical to how software development happens. We need similar codes of professional conduct and practice in philanthropy. Non-Profit 2010-03-15
Transparency and Open Government Memorandum by President Barack Obama for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies regarding Transparency and Open Government Government 2009-01-21
Transparency is Central to Financial Reforms in the US The US Congress - despite its many disagreements - passed a financial reform bill that explicitly advances transparency as critical to reforming financial systems and corporate practices. Corporate 2010-07-20
Trendwatching: Transparency Triumph Trendwatching reviews the many ways consumers can research, compare and review their way to a more powerful position and gives examples of how consumers and brands intend on making opinions, quality standards and prices even more transparent. Corporate 2009-09-01

Organizations

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Center for Responsive Politics The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) is a nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information. Government 1983-01-01
Media Matters Action Network Media Matters Action Network is a progressive research and information center dedicated to analyzing and correcting conservative misinformation; ensuring accuracy, appropriate balance, and accountability in the media through targeted public action campaigns; empowering and expanding progressive voices in the media by providing a full range of resources to assist the larger progressive community in Non-Profit 2004-05-01
Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation's mission is to use cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. They are a non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that focuses on the digitization of government data and the creation of tools and Web sites to make that data easily accessible for all citizens. Government 2006-04-01
Transparency International Transparency International (TI) is an international non-governmental organization fighting corruption and trying to raise public awareness of it. This includes, but is not limited to, political corruption. It publishes every year its Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide. TI's mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption. Non-Profit 1993-05-01

Tools & Services

resource category date
Crocodyl Crocodyl's aim is to stimulate collaborative research among NGOs, journalists, activists, whistleblowers and academics in order to develop publicly-available profiles of the world's most powerful corporations. The result is an evolving compendium of critical research, posted to the public domain as an aid to anyone working to hold corporations increasingly accountable. Corporate 2009-03-01
CSRHUB CSRHUB gives consumers access to more than 50 sources of CSR information. The largest contribution of data comes from aggregating five of the eight leading SRI research firms. The CSRHUB database also aggregates information from publishers, NGOs, and three government agencies. Using a proprietary system for mapping and normalizing this broad range of information, CSRHUB provides consistent ratings Corporate 2009-12-01
Data.gov The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Government 2009-05-01
FederalRegister.gov The Office of the Federal Register informs citizens of their rights and obligations, documents the actions of Federal agencies, and provides a forum for public participation in the democratic process. Government 2010-07-16
GoodGuide GoodGuide provides information about the health, environmental and social performance of products and companies. Their mission is to help consumers make purchasing decisions that reflect their preferences and values. Corporate 2007-12-01
GovLoop GovLoop is a social network for the government community to connect and share information. Government 2008-04-01
Justmeans Justmeans helps companies engage with people on issues of social responsibility using simple technology tools. Corporate 2007-04-01
MAPLight.org MAPLight.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization tracking money and politics in U.S. Congress and several cities and states. The organization publishes a free public database linking together money and politics data sources, including campaign contributions to politicians, how politicians vote on bills, and support and opposition to legislation. Government 2007-05-01
National Data Catalog The National Data Catalog is an open platform for government data sets and APIs. It makes it easy to find datasets by and about government, across all levels (federal, state, and local) and across all branches (executive, legislative, and judicial). Government 2009-07-15
OpenCongress OpenCongress is making it easier to understand, track, and engage with the U.S. Congress. OpenCongress combines official government data with news and blog coverage, social networking, and participation tools to give you the real story behind what's happening in Congress. Government 2007-02-27
PolitiFact Every day, reporters and researchers from the Times examine statements by members of Congress, the president, cabinet secretaries, lobbyists, people who testify before Congress and anyone else who speaks up in Washington. PolitiFact researches their statements and then rate the accuracy on their Truth-O-Meter. Government 2007-01-01
Project Label Project Label strives to produce people-powered social nutrition labels. Just think food nutrition labels, but instead of only showing the impact on your health, their labels will show a company's social and environmental impact. Unlike many "green" labels out there, Project's Labels are built by it's users. Using the power of the Web, they provide simple tools to allow co Corporate 2008-08-01
Recovery.gov Recovery.gov is the U.S. government's official website that provides easy access to data related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse. Government 2009-05-01
Socrata Discover useful, unique, and unusual datasets created by the community. Government 2007-09-04
SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) publishes SourceWatch, a collaborative, specialized encyclopedia of the people, organizations, and issues shaping the public agenda. SourceWatch profiles the activities of front groups, PR spinners, industry-friendly experts, industry-funded organizations, and think tanks trying to manipulate public opinion on behalf of corporations or government. Government 2003-03-10
USAspending.gov The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006 required that the Office of Management and Budget establish a single searchable website, accessible to the public at no cost to access Government 2007-12-01
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks is a multi-jurisdictional public service designed to protect whistleblowers, journalists and activists who have sensitive materials to communicate to the public. It publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive documents while preserving the anonymity of sources. Other 2006-12-01