The Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections (DIME) provides a general resource for the study of campaign finance and ideology in American politics. The database was developed as part an on-going effort to construct a comprehensive ideological mapping of political elites, interest groups, and donors. Constructing the database required a large-scale effort to compile, clean, and process data on contribution records, candidate characteristics, and election outcomes from various sources. The current database contains over 500 million itemized political contributions made by individuals and organizations to local, state, and federal elections covering from 1979 to 2020. A corresponding database of candidates and committees provides additional information on state and federal elections.