Reporting & Compliance – ActBlue

ActBlue user roles and permissions dictate what users can do on our platform. If the tools or features in this article are unavailable to you, speak to your entity Admin first about updating your permissions.

For your campaign to comply with federal, state, and local laws, your team may need to file donor reports with government agencies. We’re happy to show you how to access this data in ActBlue, but this is not legal advice.

Consult your legal counsel and compliance team for specific questions about filing reports. You can also direct questions to the government agency overseeing your activity and ask how to report contributions received through ActBlue.

Before you start, read our compliance guidelines in the "Reporting" tab, as shown below.

Screenshot of the Disbursements section of the Reporting center. A box highlights the section 'For more specific reporting and compliance guidance, please view our instructions here' with a hyperlink placed on here.

You can find the Contribution data you need to complete accurate compliance reports in the “Reporting,” “Downloads” and “Report Builder' tabs of your Dashboard.

A screenshot of the 'Tools' selection menu. A box is around the options of 'Reporting,' 'Downloads' and 'Report Builder.'

After reading the guidelines, you can download a CSV for a specific check or disbursement of funds in the “Disbursements” tab. Find the check and click the CSV button to the right.

A screenshot of a line item in the Reporting Center. A box is around the button option to the far right to select a CSV download.

You can export more data in the "Downloads" tab of your Dashboard.

Select a specific time frame or all-time history. You can download contribution data over a specific time frame in CSV format or export it as a Google Sheet.

A screenshot of the Downloads section. A red arrow is directed at the Export dropdown. The dropdown includes options to download a CSV or Google Sheets file.

Head to the "Report Builder" tab in your Dashboard for more specific contribution information. In the Report Builder, you can select only the columns you want and save templates for reports you want to download regularly. For more information on how to use the report builder, click here.

If you need to upload the CSV into your state’s reporting software and need it in a different format, you can convert a CSV file into that format.

You can also download data for a specific contribution form by choosing the form and navigating to its Statistics page.

Screenshot of the header of the Reporting center. A red arrow points to the Stats page link, second from the left on the second line.

The Statistics page will show you a table of the contributions received on the form, broken down by refcode. You can download all contributions from the Stats page by clicking the blue “Export all contributions” in the top right corner.

Screenshot of the Candidate C-Form statistics section. A red arrow points to the 'Export all contributions' button.

NGP VAN recommends that ActBlue users who use their compliance software download our standard CSVs, which you can do by clicking the “CSV” button.

A screenshot of line items on the Statistics page. A red square is around the 'CSV' button, which allows you to download a copy of the dated disbursement.

If you use an older version of NGP, you can still download NGP data by clicking the “Data” or “Fundraisers” buttons next to “Legacy NGP.”

A screenshot of line items in the Statistics page. A red square is around the 'Legacy NGP' options. The options include downloading 'Data' or 'Fundraisers'.

Additionally, ActBlue’s CSV API lets users automate their processes and download donor data via CSVs without having to log in to the entity Dashboard every time. To access the CSV API for the first time, navigate to the “Admin” section of the Dashboard toolbar and select the API Credentials tab. Read more about using the CSV API.

The amount of support that the ActBlue Customer Service Team can provide is dependent on the permissions that you have. Check with your entity Admin about your assigned role.

If you have any questions, please contact our support team using the email address you use to access your ActBlue account.

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