Sunlight Foundation to cut back its work, seek merger

The Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog focused on transparency in government and campaign finance, announced Tuesday that it would cut back much of its work and reevaluate its future.

Following a two-month search for a new executive director, chairman Mike Klein said in a statement that his board failed to find a candidate “who persuaded us of both a compelling new strategic vision and of their capacity to lead Sunlight to its achievement.” 

{mosads}“We will discontinue our tool building and database maintenance activities,” he added, “and encourage others to continue our most promising projects.”

In the meantime, the Sunlight Foundation will seek to “explore alliances with other organizations similarly motivated, perhaps merging with one of them, in an arrangement that advances and preserves Sunlight’s mission and identity with increased efficiency and effectiveness,” Klein said.

Since its founding in 2006, the Sunlight Foundation has built sophisticated tools to help track the billions of dollars pumped through politics every year at local, state, federal, and international levels.

One of the foundation’s most popular features, Political Party Time, is known for publishing invitations to fundraisers politicians often prefer to keep private.

Klein said in his statement that improved technology has reduced the need for the Foundation’s “early role as a leading transparency innovator.”

Klein also blamed the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, saying it limited the Foundation’s mission “to build support for better legislation against and regulation of the power of money in politics.”

The Sunlight Foundation is pledged to “deliver on all existing obligations to funders and partners,” such as the What Work Cities initiative.

“I helped start this organization hoping it would play an active role as a monitor and constructive critic of government policies and practices affecting transparency,” Klein said. “As we explore potential alliances with other organizations over the next few weeks, I look forward to continuing that work.”