Yard signs don’t vote, per the old political axiom.

Campaign donations don’t vote either, but those dollar figures do give fodder to news outlets. With about a month before the March 17 primary, now is a great time to remind voters about the ways to track donations. As with everything, general election campaigns draw considerably more interest than primaries, but when facing crowded fields of candidates who carefully manage messages and appearances, bank accounts can be revealing.

My favorite resource in this arena is illinoissunshine.org, which takes data the State Board of Elections collects and presents it in a few interesting and accessible formats. (You can always access the raw information from the state at elections.il.gov under the “Campaign Disclosure” tab.)

The website is a project of Reform For Illinois, which calls itself “a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization that empowers the public to participate in government, addresses the role of money in politics, and promotes integrity, accountability and transparency in our political system.” That group also pushes for things liked changing voting systems, increasing turnout, reforming ethics laws and “efforts to lower barriers for non-insider candidates seeking to run for office, such as reducing overly burdensome petition signature requirements and the haphazard petition challenge process.”

The landing page lists the top committees of the two major parties by cash on hand, as well as top donations in the last week, top earners of the previous 30 days and the largest current fund balances, all updated daily. There’s also a bar graph showing the monthly total donations and transfer figures going back to March 1994.

Elsewhere on the site are tables showing the total funds in a given race sported by state House and Senate districts, along with the governor’s race and other constitutional offices. When I visited the site Monday afternoon, it listed 29 donations from Saturday totaling $71,500; the back arrow revealed 96 donations on Friday worth $632,052.82.

Some information requires digging. Organization names can be vague and don’t tip to political alignment. Committee contact information is easier to find through the elections board. Holding cash isn’t the same as spending, and some politicians don’t really take donations so much as siphon off personal wealth.

Itemized dollar amounts don’t tell a complete story either, but digging through the details paints a picture about a campaign and candidate: from whom they’ll take money, spending priorities, business savvy and so on. This is especially useful for “actions speak louder than words” voters, and – especially in primary season – one of the few insights available for candidates without a voting record.

Ultimately, only vote totals decide who serves, but donations tell an important story about how those servants and their opponents operate.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.