Support This Project
CHECKMYREP IS FREE AND ALWAYS WILL BE. BUT IF YOU FIND IT USEFUL, YOU CAN HELP KEEP IT RUNNING.
Why CheckMyRep Is Free
Government accountability shouldn't be behind a paywall. CheckMyRep uses publicly funded data sources — Congress.gov, the Federal Register, GovInfo, OpenFEC — because this information belongs to all of us. The AI features use a bring-your-own-key model so there are no recurring server costs for AI.
That said, hosting, domain registration, API development, and the hundreds of hours building this platform aren't free. If CheckMyRep has helped you research a representative, draft a letter, submit a public comment, or just understand how government works — consider leaving a tip.
100% goes to keeping this running
Every dollar goes directly to hosting costs, API fees, and development time. CheckMyRep is a project of FOIAForge.
What Your Support Covers
Hosting & Infrastructure
Servers, CDN, database, domain
API Access
Congress.gov, GovInfo, FEC data feeds
Development
New features, bug fixes, maintenance
Mobile App
iOS and Android app development
Donation Links Coming Soon
Support platforms are being set up. In the meantime, the best way to support CheckMyRep is to share it with others, use it to contact your reps, and spread the word about government accountability.
Ways to Support
Choose whatever platform works best for you. Every contribution — no matter how small — helps.
Buy Me a Coffee
NOT YET SET UPQuick one-time tips. No account needed for supporters. Great for casual "thanks for building this" donations.
Set up at: www.buymeacoffee.com
Ko-fi
NOT YET SET UPSimilar to Buy Me a Coffee but takes 0% platform fee on donations. Also supports monthly memberships and a shop.
Set up at: ko-fi.com
GitHub Sponsors
NOT YET SET UPBest for developer-oriented supporters. GitHub matches sponsorships in the first year. Monthly tiers available.
Set up at: github.com/sponsors
Open Collective
NOT YET SET UPFully transparent finances — every donation and expense is public. Perfect for a civic accountability project. Can accept as a nonprofit.
Set up at: opencollective.com
Patreon
NOT YET SET UPRecurring monthly support with membership tiers. Good for building a community of dedicated supporters with exclusive updates.
Set up at: www.patreon.com
Liberapay
NOT YET SET UPOpen-source recurring donation platform. No platform fee — only payment processor fees. Built for public-interest projects.
Set up at: liberapay.com
Our Recommendations
Open Collective — Best for transparency
Every donation and expense is public. Perfect alignment with a civic accountability project. Can apply for nonprofit fiscal hosting for tax-deductible donations.
Ko-fi — Best for zero-fee tips
0% platform fee means more of every dollar reaches you. Simple setup, no friction for supporters.
GitHub Sponsors — Best for developer supporters
GitHub matches sponsorships in the first year (doubling donations). Great if your audience is technical.
Other Ways to Help
Don't have cash to spare? These are just as valuable:
Share CheckMyRep
Tell a friend, post on social media, or share in community groups. More users means more civic engagement.
Use It
Write to your representative. Submit a public comment. Research a committee. The more people use this, the more it matters.
Report Bugs
Found something broken? Data that looks wrong? Let us know so we can fix it. Quality matters for accountability tools.
Contribute Code
CheckMyRep is open source. Developers can contribute features, fix bugs, or improve accessibility. Every PR helps.