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{{short description|American nonprofit donor-advised fund}} | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2015}} | {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2015}} | ||
{{synthesis|date=March 2015}} | |||
{{Infobox organization | {{Infobox organization | ||
| name = DonorsTrust | |||
| name = Donors Trust | |||
| native_name = | | native_name = | ||
| image = File:Donors_Trust_logo.png | |||
| image = | |||
| image_size = | | image_size = | ||
| alt = | | alt = | ||
| caption = | | caption = | ||
| map = | | map = | ||
| map_size = | | map_size = | ||
| map_alt = | | map_alt = | ||
| map_caption = | | map_caption = | ||
| map2 = | | map2 = | ||
| map2_size = | | map2_size = | ||
| map2_alt = | | map2_alt = | ||
| map2_caption = | | map2_caption = | ||
| abbreviation = | | abbreviation = | ||
| predecessor = | |||
| motto = | |||
| merged = | |||
| predecessor = | |||
| successor = | |||
| merged = | |||
| formation = 1999 | |||
| successor = | |||
| founder = | |||
| formation = 1999 | |||
| extinction = | |||
| founder = | |||
| merger = | |||
| extinction = | |||
| type = Nonprofit (] § ])<ref name="IRS">{{cite web|title=2017 IRS 990 FORM|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/522166327/03_2019_prefixes_51-56%2F522166327_201712_990_2019030616152331|access-date=October 25, 2020|archive-date=April 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423205120/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/522166327/03_2019_prefixes_51-56%2F522166327_201712_990_2019030616152331|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| merger = | |||
| tax_id = 52-2166327 | |||
| type = Nonprofit (] § ])<ref name=IRS/> | |||
| registration_id = | |||
| tax_id = 52-2166327 | |||
| status = | |||
| registration_id = <!-- for non-profit org --> | |||
| purpose = | |||
| status = | |||
| headquarters = | |||
| purpose = | |||
| location = ], U.S. | |||
| headquarters = | |||
| coords = {{coord| 38.8056|-77.0603|display=inline,title}} | |||
| location =1800 Diagonal Rd., S-280<br>] 22314 | |||
| region = | |||
| coords = {{coord| 38.8056|-77.0603|display=inline,title}} | |||
| services = ] | |||
| region = | |||
| products = | |||
| services = ] | |||
| methods = | |||
| products = | |||
| fields = | |||
| methods = | |||
| membership = | |||
| fields = | |||
| membership_year = | |||
| membership = | |||
| language = | |||
| membership_year = | |||
| owner = | |||
| language = | |||
| |
| sec_gen = | ||
| leader_title = CEO | |||
| sec_gen = | |||
| leader_name = Lawson Bader<ref name=bader>{{cite news|title=DonorsTrust's New CEO|url=http://www.donorstrust.org/news-notes/donorstrusts-new-ceo/|access-date=3 February 2016|publisher=Donors Trust|date=September 22, 2015|archive-date=February 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203224328/http://www.donorstrust.org/news-notes/donorstrusts-new-ceo/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| leader_title = President | |||
| leader_title2 = | |||
| leader_name = Whitney Ball | |||
| leader_name2 = | |||
| leader_title2 = | |||
| leader_title3 = | |||
| leader_name2 = | |||
| leader_name3 = | |||
| leader_title3 = | |||
| leader_title4 = | |||
| leader_name3 = | |||
| leader_name4 = | |||
| leader_title4 = | |||
| board_of_directors = {{hlist | Kimberly Dennis | ] | Lawson Bader | Thomas Beach | George G. H. Coates Jr.<ref name=board>{{cite web|title=Directors & Staff - DonorsTrust|url=http://www.donorstrust.org/who-we-are/directors-and-staff/|publisher=Donors Trust|access-date=2022-01-13|archive-date=November 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130041949/http://www.donorstrust.org/who-we-are/directors-and-staff/|url-status=live}}</ref>}} | |||
| leader_name4 = | |||
| key_people = | |||
| board_of_directors = Kimberly Dennis, ], Thomas Beach, ], Jeffrey Zysik<ref name=board>{{cite web|title=Donors Trust Officers & Directors|url=http://www.donorstrust.org/AboutUs/DirectorsStaff.aspx|publisher=Donors Trust|accessdate=February 7, 2015}}</ref> | |||
| main_organ = | |||
| key_people = | |||
| parent_organization = | |||
| main_organ = | |||
| subsidiaries = | |||
| parent_organization = | |||
| secessions = | |||
| subsidiaries = | |||
| affiliations = ] | |||
| secessions = | |||
| budget = | |||
| affiliations = ] | |||
| budget_year = | |||
| budget = | |||
| revenue = $323 million<ref name="nonprofitexplorer">{{cite web|title=Donors Trust Inc|website=] Nonprofit Explorer|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522166327|date=2022|access-date=2022-01-13|archive-date=February 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216074912/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522166327|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| budget_year = | |||
| revenue_year = 2022 | |||
| revenue = $47,559,206<ref name=IRS>{{cite web|title=2012 IRS Form 990|url=http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/522/166/2012-522166327-09d0d02d-9.pdf|website=GuideStar|publisher=IRS|accessdate=February 7, 2015}}</ref> | |||
| disbursements = | |||
| revenue_year = 2012 | |||
| expenses = $248 million<ref name="nonprofitexplorer"/> | |||
| disbursements = | |||
| expenses_year = 2022 | |||
| expenses = $43,106,986<ref name=IRS/> | |||
| endowment = $1.39 billion in assets<ref name="nonprofitexplorer"/> | |||
| expenses_year = 2012 | |||
| endowment_year = 2022 | |||
| endowment = | |||
| staff = | | staff = | ||
| staff_year = | | staff_year = | ||
| volunteers = | | volunteers = | ||
| volunteers_year = | | volunteers_year = | ||
| website = {{official URL}} | |||
| slogan = Building a Legacy of Liberty | |||
| remarks = | |||
| mission = | |||
| formerly = | |||
| website = {{url|http://www.donorstrust.org}} | |||
| footnotes = | |||
| remarks = | |||
| formerly = | |||
| footnotes = | |||
}} | }} | ||
{{Conservatism US|other organizations}} | |||
'''Donors Trust''' is a nonprofit ] which offers anonymity to people who wish to contribute to nonprofit entities, including ] and ] organizations, but who do not wish to make their donations public. Based in ], it is affiliated with ], another donor advised fund. | |||
'''DonorsTrust''' is an American nonprofit ]. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors".<ref name="inside">{{cite web|last1=Callahan|first1=David|title=Inside DonorsTrust: What This Mission-Driven DAF Offers Philanthropists on the Right|url=http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/3/3/inside-donorstrust-what-this-mission-driven-daf-offers-phila.html|access-date=May 31, 2016|website=Inside Philanthropy|date=March 3, 2016|archive-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428165644/http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/3/3/inside-donorstrust-what-this-mission-driven-daf-offers-phila.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As a donor advised fund, DonorsTrust is not legally required to disclose the identity of its donors, and most of its donors remain anonymous.<ref name=MJ_1>{{cite magazine |last1=Kroll |first1=Andy |title=Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos/ |access-date=2 April 2019 |magazine=Mother Jones |date=February 5, 2013 |archive-date=October 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002141421/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Callahan |first1=David |title=Inside DonorsTrust: What This Mission-Driven DAF Offers Philanthropists on the Right |url=https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/3/3/inside-donorstrust-what-this-mission-driven-daf-offers-phila.html |access-date=2 April 2019 |website=Inside Philanthropy |date=August 23, 2017 |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830160500/https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/3/3/inside-donorstrust-what-this-mission-driven-daf-offers-phila.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It distributes funds to various ] and ] organizations, and has been characterized as the "] ATM" of the political ].{{ r | MJ_1}}<ref>{{cite news|last=SLODYSKO|first=Brian|date=27 July 2020|title=Wealthy donors pour millions into fight over mail-in voting|url=https://www.startribune.com/wealthy-donors-pour-millions-into-fight-over-mail-in-voting/571915722/|work=]|access-date=20 November 2020|quote=A substantial portion of the financing comes from Donors Trust, a nonprofit often referred to as the "dark money ATM" of the conservative movement. The organization helps wealthy patrons invest in causes they care about while sheltering their identities from the public.|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031215247/https://www.startribune.com/wealthy-donors-pour-millions-into-fight-over-mail-in-voting/571915722/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{ r | Guardian_20200527 | p=1 | q=For nearly a decade, the organization has been almost entirely funded by DonorsTrust, known as a "dark money ATM" backed by the Koch network and other prominent conservative donors, according to data tracked by OpenSecrets. }} | |||
== History == | |||
It is affiliated with Donors Capital Fund, another donor-advised fund. In September 2015, Lawson Bader was announced as the new president of both DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund. Bader was formerly president of the ] and Vice President at the ].<ref name=bader/> | |||
Donors Trust was established in 1999 by a group of donors and nonprofit executives with the common goal of “promoting our free society as understood in America’s founding documents.”<ref name=nbc/><ref name=national>{{cite news |last1=Zeiser |first1=Bill |title=Dark Money |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388705/dark-money-bill-zeiser?splash=|accessdate=February 7, 2015 |journal=] |date=September 24, 2014}}</ref> According to Donors Trust, the organization was founded "to ensure the intent of donors who are dedicated to the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise."<ref name=mission>{{cite web|title=Mission & Principles|url=http://www.donorstrust.org/AboutUs/MissionPrinciples.aspx|publisher=Donors Trust|accessdate=February 7, 2015}}</ref> Donors Trust files with the US ] as a ] organization.<ref name=IRS/> | |||
==Overview== | |||
Donors Trust relies on donors from charitable foundations and individuals.<ref name=Guardian021513>{{cite news|title=Media campaign against windfarms funded by anonymous conservatives|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/15/media-campaign-windfarms-conservatives|accessdate=February 16, 2013 |newspaper=] |date=February 15, 2013 |authorlink=Suzanne Goldenberg |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg}}</ref> Grants from Donors Trust are based on the preferences of the original contributor.<ref name=brulle2/> Donors Trust assures donors that their contributions will never be used to support ] causes.<ref name=secret/><ref name=mission/> Donors Trust offers anonymity to individual donors, with respect to their donations to Donors Trust, as well as with respect to an individual donor's ultimate grantee.<ref name = "businessinsider1">{{cite news |title=Inside The Secretive Dark-Money Organization That's Keeping The Lights On For Conservative Groups |first=Walter |last=Hickley |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/donors-trust-capital-fund-conservative-dark-money-2013-2|newspaper=]|date=February 12, 2013|accessdate=February 14, 2013}}</ref><ref name=secret/><ref>{{cite news|title=The future of donor-advised funds|url=http://www.donorstrust.org/portals/0/PDF/Roundtable_WB_Interview_2005.pdf|accessdate=February 10, 2015 |publisher=] |date=September 2005}}</ref><ref name=faq>{{cite web|title=FAQs |url=http://www.donorstrust.org/AboutUs/FAQs.aspx |publisher=Donors Trust |accessdate=February 19, 2015}}</ref> Donors Trust is associated with ]. Donors Trust refers clients to Donors Capital Fund if the client plans to maintain a balance of $1 million or more.<ref name=brulle>{{cite news |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/climate-of-doubt/robert-brulle-inside-the-climate-change-countermovement/ |title=Robert Brulle: Inside the Climate Change “Countermovement” |publisher=] |work='']'' |date=October 23, 2012 |accessdate=February 21, 2015}}</ref><ref name=overview>{{cite web |title=What is Donors Capital Fund? |url=http://www.donorscapitalfund.org/AboutUs/Overview.aspx |publisher=Donors Capital Fund |accessdate=February 21, 2015}}</ref> | |||
DonorsTrust is a ].<ref name=IRS/> As a public charity and a donor-advised fund, DonorsTrust offers clients a variety of tax advantages compared to a private foundation.<ref name=nbc/> | |||
DonorsTrust accepts donations from charitable foundations and individuals.<ref name=Guardian021513>{{cite news |title=Media campaign against windfarms funded by anonymous conservatives |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/15/media-campaign-windfarms-conservatives |access-date=February 16, 2013 |newspaper=] |date=February 15, 2013 |author-link=Suzanne Goldenberg |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg |archive-date=February 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215085631/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/15/media-campaign-windfarms-conservatives |url-status=live }}</ref> Grants from DonorsTrust are based on the preferences of the original contributor, and the organization assures clients that their contributions will never be used to support politically ] causes.<ref name=secret/><ref name=mission>{{cite web|title=Mission & Principles|url=http://www.donorstrust.org/who-we-are/mission-principles/|publisher=Donors Trust|access-date=May 31, 2016|archive-date=May 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527233606/http://www.donorstrust.org/who-we-are/mission-principles/|url-status=live}}</ref> As a donor advised fund, DonorsTrust can offer anonymity to individual donors, with respect to their donations to DonorsTrust, as well as with respect to an individual donor's ultimate grantee.<ref name=secret/><ref name=businessinsider>{{cite news |title=Inside The Secretive Dark-Money Organization That's Keeping The Lights On For Conservative Groups |first=Walter |last=Hickley |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/donors-trust-capital-fund-conservative-dark-money-2013-2 |newspaper=] |date=February 12, 2013 |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924043939/http://www.businessinsider.com/donors-trust-capital-fund-conservative-dark-money-2013-2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=future>{{cite news|title=The future of donor-advised funds|url=http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/excellence_in_philanthropy/whitney_ball|publisher=] |date=September 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504162453/http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/excellence_in_philanthropy/whitney_ball|archive-date=May 4, 2017}}</ref><ref name=faq>{{cite web |title=FAQs |url=http://www.donorstrust.org/where-to-start/frequently-asked-questions/ |publisher=Donors Trust |access-date=May 31, 2016 |archive-date=July 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715163331/http://www.donorstrust.org/where-to-start/frequently-asked-questions/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
In early 2013 Donors Trust was the subject of investigative journalism reports, including those of the British daily newspaper '']'',<ref name=independent20130124/> the progressive news magazine '']'',<ref name=MotherJones20130205/><ref name=MotherJones20130211/> the British daily newspaper '']'',<ref name=secret/><ref name=Guardian021413/><ref name=Guardian021513/> ],<ref name=nbc/> and the media watchdog group the ].<ref name=nbc/> ''Mother Jones'' described Donors Trust as having "funded the right's assault on labor unions, climate scientists, public schools, economic regulations, and the very premise of activist government" while having "mostly avoided any real scrutiny."<ref name=MotherJones20130205>{{cite news |title=Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement |url=http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos |first=Andy |last=Kroll |date=February 5, 2013 |accessdate=February 20, 2015 |journal=]}}</ref> Donors Trust was the subject of a February, 2013 segment on '']'', a daily ], ], ] ] news hour.<ref>{{cite news |title=The ATM for Climate Denial: Secretive Donors Trust Funds Vast Network of Global Warming Skeptics |date=February 19, 2013 |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/19/the_atm_for_climate_denial_secretive |accessdate=March 9, 2015 |authorlink=Amy Goodman |first=Amy |last=Goodman |work='']''}}</ref> | |||
As a donor advised fund and public charity, DonorsTrust accepts cash or assets from donors, and in turn creates a separate account for the donor, who may recommend disbursements from the fund to other public charities.<ref name=future/> DonorsTrust requires an initial deposit of $10,000 or more.<ref>{{cite web|title=Open An Account|url=http://www.donorstrust.org/where-to-start/open-an-account/|publisher=Donors Trust|access-date=May 31, 2016|archive-date=May 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528054712/http://www.donorstrust.org/where-to-start/open-an-account/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=MotherJones20130205/> DonorsTrust is associated with ]. DonorsTrust refers clients to Donors Capital Fund if the client plans to maintain a balance of $1 million or more.<ref name=brulle>{{cite news |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/climate-of-doubt/robert-brulle-inside-the-climate-change-countermovement/ |title=Robert Brulle: Inside the Climate Change "Countermovement" |publisher=] |work=] |date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=February 21, 2015 |archive-date=January 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131113416/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/climate-of-doubt/robert-brulle-inside-the-climate-change-countermovement/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=overview>{{cite web |title=What is Donors Capital Fund? |url=http://www.donorscapitalfund.org/AboutUs/Overview.aspx |publisher=Donors Capital Fund |access-date=February 21, 2015 |archive-date=October 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028224946/http://www.donorscapitalfund.org/AboutUs/Overview.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> DonorsTrust president Lawson Bader said the goal of the organization is to "safeguard the intent of libertarian and conservative donors," ensuring that funds are used only to promote "liberty through limited government, responsibility, and free enterprise".<ref name="inside"/> | |||
According to Whitney Ball, the president of Donors Trust, 70 to 75 percent of the gifts to the organization go to public policy organizations, with the rest going to more conventional charities such as social service and educational organizations.<ref name=national/> | |||
== |
==History== | ||
DonorsTrust was established in 1999 by Whitney Lynn Ball.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gillespie|first1=Nick|title=Whitney Ball, Founder of DonorsTrust, RIP|url=http://reason.com/blog/2015/08/18/whitney-ball-founder-of-donorstrust-rip|access-date=May 31, 2016|publisher=Reason|date=August 18, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605092746/http://reason.com/blog/2015/08/18/whitney-ball-founder-of-donorstrust-rip|url-status=live}}</ref> According to DonorsTrust, the organization was founded by a group of donors and nonprofit executives who were "actively engaged in supporting and promoting a free society as understood in America's founding documents."<ref name=mission/> A major selling point to donors is that even after their death, their money will continue to fund conservative/libertarian goals, and not change based on the attitudes of their heirs or trustees as a family foundation might.{{ r | MJ_1 | p=1 | q=Donors Trust grew out of the fear among right-leaning donors that their family foundations might end up in the hands of those who would fund centrist or, even worse, left-of-center causes. ... Ball says she travels all over the country courting wealthy conservatives and libertarians, and attends Koch donor retreats and Cato "shareholder" meetings. The crux of her pitch is this: Rich folks can give to Donors Trust and rest easy knowing that their millions will continue bankrolling the conservative movement long into the future, even after their death. They don't have to worry that, after they die, their heirs and trustees will use their bucks for causes they would never support. Ball points to the Ford Foundation as one example of a major charity that, in her view, drifted leftward over time and away from the ideals of man who started it, industrialist Edsel Ford. }} | |||
In early 2013, DonorsTrust was the subject of reports by '']'',<ref name=independent20130124/> '']'',<ref name=Guardian021513/><ref name=secret/><ref name=Guardian021413/> '']'',<ref name=MotherJones20130205/><ref name=MotherJones20130211/> and the ].<ref name=nbc/> ''Mother Jones'' described DonorsTrust as having funded a conservative public policy agenda in the areas of labor unions, climate science, public schools, and economic regulations.<ref name=MotherJones20130205>{{cite news |title=Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement |url=http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos |first=Andy |last=Kroll |date=February 5, 2013 |access-date=February 20, 2015 |journal=] |archive-date=February 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218002434/http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Donors Trust requires an initial deposit of $10,000 or more.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guidelines |url=http://www.donorstrust.org/GettingStarted/Guidelines.aspx |publisher=Donors Trust |accessdate=March 5, 2015}}</ref><ref name=MotherJones20130205/> As of 2013, Donors Trust had 193 contributors, mostly individuals, and some foundations.<ref name=nbc/> | |||
In January 2021, ] reported that in 2019, DonorsTrust had given millions of dollars to conservative organizations that went on to push claims of election fraud in the 2020 election.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schwartz|first=Brian|date=2021-01-13|title=Dark-money GOP fund funneled millions of dollars to groups that pushed voter fraud claims|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/dark-money-gop-fund-funneled-millions-groups-that-pushed-voter-fraud-claims.html|access-date=2021-04-04|website=CNBC|language=en|archive-date=March 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318002108/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/dark-money-gop-fund-funneled-millions-groups-that-pushed-voter-fraud-claims.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Individual Donors Trust account holders include American ] ], co-founder of ]; ], hedge fund manager, investor, philanthropist, and political activist; and entrepreneur ].<ref name=nbc/>{{importance-inline|reason=see "Talk:Donors Trust#Unimportant connections"}} The DeVos family foundation contributed $1 million in 2009 and $1.5 million in 2010.<ref name=MotherJones20130205/> | |||
==Donors== | |||
The Knowledge and Progress Fund, chaired and funded by ], and the Charles G. Koch Foundation contributed $3.3 million to Donors Trust between 2007 and 2011.<ref>{{cite news |title=Koch millions spread influence through nonprofits, colleges |first1=Charles |last1=Lewis |first2=Eric |last2=Holmberg |first3=Alexia |last3=Fernandez Campbell |first4=Lydia |last4=Beyoud |url=http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/the_koch_club/story/Koch_millions_spread_influence_through_nonprofits/ |work=] |publisher=] |date=July 1, 2013 |accessdate=March 3, 2015}}</ref><ref name=forbes>{{cite news |title=Tracking Koch Money and Americans for Prosperity |first=Laurie |last=Bennett |publisher=] |date=March 31, 2012 |accessdate=March 3, 2015 |url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriebennett/2012/03/31/tracking-koch-money-and-americans-for-prosperity/}}</ref><ref name=independent20130124>{{cite news|last1=Connor|first1=Steve|title=Exclusive: Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-billionaires-secretly-fund-attacks-on-climate-science-8466312.html|accessdate=February 7, 2015 |newspaper=] |date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> The ] were Donors Trust's top contributors in 2011.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/the_koch_brothers_media_invest.php|title=The Koch brothers’ media investment|journal=] |date=April 22, 2013|first=Sasha|last=Chavkin |accessdate=March 5, 2015}}</ref> Other conservative foundation Donors Trust account holders include the ]-based ]; the ], a grant-making ] established in 1953; the ], founded with a 1993 endowment from the ];<ref name=nbc/> and the ], founded by American businessman, heir and philanthropist ] to support ] economics.<ref name="searle">{{cite news |authorlink=John J. Miller |first=John J. |last=Miller |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/222772/daniel-c-searle-rip-john-j-miller |journal=] |date=November 8, 2007 |accessdate=March 6, 2015 |title=Daniel C. Searle, R.I.P.}}</ref>{{importance-inline|reason=see "Talk:Donors Trust#Unimportant connections"}} The Bradley family contributed $650,000 between 2001 and 2010.<ref name=MotherJones20130205/> | |||
As of 2013, DonorsTrust had 193 contributors, mostly individuals, and some foundations.<ref name=nbc/> | |||
The ] contributed millions to DonorsTrust since the mid-2000s.<ref name=independent20130124>{{cite news|last1=Connor|first1=Steve|title=Exclusive: Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-billionaires-secretly-fund-attacks-on-climate-science-8466312.html|access-date=February 7, 2015|newspaper=]|date=January 24, 2013|archive-date=February 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219132559/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-billionaires-secretly-fund-attacks-on-climate-science-8466312.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Koch millions spread influence through nonprofits, colleges |first1=Charles |last1=Lewis |first2=Eric |last2=Holmberg |first3=Alexia |last3=Fernandez Campbell |first4=Lydia |last4=Beyoud |url=http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/the_koch_club/story/Koch_millions_spread_influence_through_nonprofits/ |work=] |publisher=] |date=July 1, 2013 |access-date=March 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223201545/http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/the_koch_club/story/Koch_millions_spread_influence_through_nonprofits/ |archive-date=February 23, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|date=|title=Project Veritas received $1.7 million last year from charity associated with the Koch brothers|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/project-veritas-received-17-million-last-year-from-koch-backed-charity/2017/12/01/143e13ca-d6d3-11e7-9461-ba77d604373d_story.html|newspaper=]|location=|access-date=|archive-date=August 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827153352/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/project-veritas-received-17-million-last-year-from-koch-backed-charity/2017/12/01/143e13ca-d6d3-11e7-9461-ba77d604373d_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Two Koch brothers, ] and ], were the top contributors to DonorsTrust in 2011, according to an analysis by the '']''.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/the_koch_brothers_media_invest.php |title=The Koch brothers' media investment |journal=] |date=April 22, 2013 |first=Sasha |last=Chavkin |access-date=March 5, 2015 |quote=In 2011, fully 95 percent of the Franklin Center's revenues came from a charity called Donors Trust, whose top contributors were the Koch brothers. |archive-date=February 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209090220/http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/the_koch_brothers_media_invest.php |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010, DonorsTrust received a {{USD}}2 million grant from the Donors Capital Fund.<ref name=businessinsider/> | |||
== Recipients == | |||
DonorsTrust account holders have included the ], the ], the ], and the ].<ref name=nbc/><ref name="searle">{{cite news |author-link=John J. Miller (journalist) |first=John J. |last=Miller |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/222772/daniel-c-searle-rip-john-j-miller |journal=] |date=November 8, 2007 |access-date=March 6, 2015 |title=Daniel C. Searle, R.I.P. |archive-date=August 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803072304/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/222772/daniel-c-searle-rip-john-j-miller |url-status=live }}</ref> The Bradley family contributed $650,000 between 2001 and 2010.<ref name=MotherJones20130205/> The DeVos family foundation contributed $1 million in 2009 and $1.5 million in 2010 to Donors Trust.<ref name=MotherJones20130205/> | |||
Since its founding in 1999, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund have distributed nearly $400 million to various nonprofit organizations, including numerous conservative and libertarian causes.<ref name=nbc/> In 2010, the ], a ], received a Donors Trust grant of $7 million, nearly half of the Foundation's revenue that year.<ref name=forbes/><ref name=nbc/> Other conservative and libertarian Donors Trust recipients include the ], a ] ]; ], a ] ]; the ] Freedom Action Foundation; the ], a ] think tank; the ], an organization seeking ] or ] reform of the ]; the FreedomWorks Foundation; the ], which provides free legal assistance to employees who claim that their civil rights have been violated by ]; and the ], which represents consumers dissatisfied with their counsel in ]s.<ref name=MotherJones20130205/><ref name=MotherJones20130211>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Donors Trust, The Right's Dark-Money ATM, Paid Out $30 Million in 2011 |url=http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/02/donors-trust-2011-dark-money-heritage-cato-unions |first=Andy |last=Kroll |date=February 11, 2013 |accessdate=March 5, 2015 |journal=]}}</ref><ref name="ABA">{{cite news |title=Unsettling Advocate |date=April 1, 2010 |first=Rachel |last=Zahorsky |url=http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/unsettling_advocate/ |journal=] |publisher=]}}</ref>{{importance-inline|reason=see "Talk:Donors Trust#Unimportant connections"}}{{synthesis-inline|reason=attaching descriptions to donees is combining material from difference sources|date=March 2015}} | |||
] and ] contributed nearly $20 million through DonorsTrust in 2020.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Brian |date=2021-09-15 |title=Mercer family played bigger role in 2020 election than thought, giving nearly $20 million to dark money GOP fund |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/robert-mercer-family-gave-nearly-20-million-to-dark-money-gop-fund-during-2020-election.html |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=] |language=en |quote=In 2019, the Donors Trust, sent donations to groups such as Turning Point USA, which is led by vocal Trump supporter Charlie Kirk; and the VDARE Foundation, which the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled a hate group.}}</ref> | |||
Other Donors Trust recipients have included the ] and the ].<ref name=national/><ref>{{cite web|title=Marijuana Policy Project|url=https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C90008061&cycle=2004|website=OpenSecrets.org|publisher=Center for Responsive Politics|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
==Recipients== | |||
=== Climate change related funding === | |||
From its founding in 1999 through 2013, DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly $400 million, and through 2015 $740 million, to various nonprofit organizations, including numerous conservative and libertarian causes.<ref name=nbc/><ref name=dunbar>{{cite news |title=Donors Trust: Little-Known Group Helps Wealthy Backers Fund Right-Wing Agenda in Secret |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/19/donors_trust_little_known_group_helps |first=Amy |last=Goodman |author-link=Amy Goodman |date=February 19, 2013 |access-date=March 15, 2015 |work=] |archive-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313041740/http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/19/donors_trust_little_known_group_helps |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Ball Was a Champion of Liberty Par Excellence |first=Adam |last=Meyerson |date=August 17, 2015 |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/422657/whitney-ball-was-champion-liberty-par-excellence-adam-meyerson |magazine=] |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-date=August 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820001746/http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/422657/whitney-ball-was-champion-liberty-par-excellence-adam-meyerson |url-status=live }}</ref> DonorsTrust requires that recipients are registered with the US ] as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Whitney Ball, the former president of the Trust, told ''The Guardian'' in 2013 that it has about 1,600 grantees.<ref>{{cite news |title=How the 'Kochtopus' stifled green debate; Behind the climate 'countermovement' are two billionaire brothers |first=Steve |last=Connor |date=January 24, 2013 |access-date=April 15, 2015 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/how-the-kochtopus-stifled-green-debate-8466316.html |newspaper=] |archive-date=April 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421155752/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/how-the-kochtopus-stifled-green-debate-8466316.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, Ball said that 70 to 75 percent of grants go to public policy organizations, with the rest going to more conventional charities such as social service and educational organizations.<ref name=nr20140924>{{cite news |last1=Zeiser |first1=Bill |title=Dark Money: The Left's unprincipled campaign against philanthropic privacy |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388705/dark-money-bill-zeiser |access-date=February 7, 2015 |journal=] |date=September 24, 2014 |archive-date=April 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403080156/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388705/dark-money-bill-zeiser |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Between 2002 and 2010, Donors Trust and the Donors Capital Fund distributed $118 million "to 102 thinktanks or action groups which have a record of denying the existence of a human factor in climate change, or opposing environmental regulations."<ref name=secret>{{cite news |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Suzanne |authorlink=Suzanne Goldenberg |title=Secret funding helped build vast network of climate denial thinktanks |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/funding-climate-change-denial-thinktanks-network |accessdate=February 7, 2015 |newspaper=] |date=February 14, 2013}}</ref> According to a 2013 analysis by ] ] ], between 2003 and 2013 Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund combined were the largest funders of organizations opposed to restrictions on carbon emissions, which Brulle calls the "climate change counter-movement."<ref name=brulle2>{{cite journal |last1=Brulle |first1=Robert J. |authorlink=Robert Brulle |title=Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations |journal=] |date=December 21, 2013 |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=681–694 |doi=10.1007/s10584-013-1018-7}}</ref><ref name=MotherJones20130205/> According to Brulle, by 2009, approximately one-quarter of the funding of the climate counter-movement was from the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund.<ref name=brulle/> | |||
In 2010, the ]<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-17/koch-group-wins-order-blocking-california-donor-data-demand|title=Koch Group Gets to Keep Donors Secret in California Lawsuit|journal=]|date=February 17, 2015|first=Edvard|last=Pettersson|access-date=March 6, 2017|archive-date=February 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225174226/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-17/koch-group-wins-order-blocking-california-donor-data-demand|url-status=live}}</ref> received a DonorsTrust grant of $7 million, nearly half of the Foundation's revenue that year.<ref name=nbc/> Other DonorsTrust recipients have included ], ], the ] Freedom Action Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the ], the ], the ], the ], and the ].<ref name=MotherJones20130205/><ref name=MotherJones20130211>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Donors Trust, The Right's Dark-Money ATM, Paid Out $30 Million in 2011 |url=http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/02/donors-trust-2011-dark-money-heritage-cato-unions |first=Andy |last=Kroll |date=February 11, 2013 |access-date=March 5, 2015 |journal=] |archive-date=February 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226021220/http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/02/donors-trust-2011-dark-money-heritage-cato-unions |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ABA">{{cite news |title=Unsettling Advocate |date=April 1, 2010 |first=Rachel |last=Zahorsky |url=http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/unsettling_advocate/ |journal=] |publisher=] |access-date=March 6, 2015 |archive-date=March 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301053049/http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/unsettling_advocate/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
As of 2010, Donors Trust grants to conservative and libertarian organizations active in climate issues included more than $17 million to the ], a not-for-profit think tank; $13.5 million to the ], a public policy think tank; and $11 million to ], the political advocacy group.<ref name=Guardian021413>{{cite news|title=How Donors Trust distributed millions to anti-climate groups |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/donors-trust-funding-climate-denial-networks |accessdate=March 5, 2015 |newspaper=] |date=February 14, 2013 |authorlink=Suzanne Goldenberg |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg}}</ref> In 2011, the ], an online news organization, received $6.3 million in Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund grants, 95% of the Center's revenue that year. In 2011, the ] (CFACT), the conservative ]-based ], received $1.2 million from Donors Trust, 40% of CFACT's revenue in that year.<ref name=businessinsider1/> Climate change writer ] received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Donors Trust.<ref name="doubtful">{{cite news |first1=Justin |last1=Gillis |first2=John |last2=Schwartz | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/us/ties-to-corporate-cash-for-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html |title=Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher |date=February 21, 2015 |accessdate=March 3, 2015 |newspaper=]}}</ref> | |||
DonorsTrust paid the legal fees of the Project on Fair Representation, a Washington, D.C.–based legal defense fund that assembled the plaintiff's legal team in '']'', a 2013 United States Supreme Court case concerning ] ].<ref>{{cite news |title=One Man Standing Against Race-Based Laws |last=Smith |first=Morgan |date=February 23, 2012 |access-date=April 30, 2015 |newspaper=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/us/edward-blum-and-the-project-on-fair-representation-head-to-the-supreme-court-to-fight-race-based-laws.html |archive-date=April 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423201421/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/us/edward-blum-and-the-project-on-fair-representation-head-to-the-supreme-court-to-fight-race-based-laws.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2011, the ], an online conservative news organization, received $6.3 million in DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund grants, 95 percent of the center's revenue that year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-02-14 |title=Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/koch-funded-charity-passes-money-free-market-think-tanks-states-flna1c8370335 |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=] |language=en |via=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldenberg |first=Suzanne |last2=Bengtsson |first2=Helena |date=2015-06-09 |title=Secretive donors gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/secretive-donors-gave-us-climate-denial-groups-125m-over-three-years |access-date=2024-12-16 |work=] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> | |||
=== State-based policy funding === | |||
Other DonorsTrust recipients have included the ], ], the ], the ],<ref name="nr20140924" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Marijuana Policy Project|url=https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C90008061&cycle=2004|publisher=]|access-date=March 8, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402164423/https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C90008061&cycle=2004|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Morse Wooster|first1=Martin|title=Remembering Whitney Ball's lasting but rarely noticed work|url=http://www.philanthropydaily.com/whitney-balls-lasting-contributions-through-unnoticed-work/|access-date=September 1, 2015|publisher=Philanthropy Daily|date=August 26, 2015|archive-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910130603/http://www.philanthropydaily.com/whitney-balls-lasting-contributions-through-unnoticed-work/|url-status=live}}</ref> and ].<ref name="Sludge">{{cite web |url=https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |title=Who Funds PragerU's Anti-Muslim Content? |author=Kotch, Alex |work=Sludge |date=December 27, 2018 |access-date=December 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229031208/https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |archive-date=December 29, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
Between 2008 and 2013, Donors Trust granted $10 million to the ] (SPN), a national network of conservative and libertarian think tanks focused on ]. SPN used the grants to incubate new think tanks in Arkansas, Rhode Island and Florida. Donors Trust also issued grants to SPN's affiliates at the state level during the same period. The ], a nonprofit organization of conservative ] and ] representatives that drafts and shares model state-level legislation, is a Donors Trust recipient.<ref name=nbc>{{cite news |title=Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states |first=Paul |last=Abowd |url=http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/14/16939114-koch-funded-charity-passes-money-to-free-market-think-tanks-in-states |accessdate=February 16, 2015 |date= February 14, 2013 |work=] |publisher=]}}</ref>{{rs|reason=source is an attributed column, not "NBC" itself|date=March 2015}} | |||
===Climate change contrarian funding=== | |||
==Board of directors== | |||
DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund have been major sources of funding for conservative groups with ] stances on ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Coan |first=Travis G. |last2=Boussalis |first2=Constantine |last3=Cook |first3=John |last4=Nanko |first4=Mirjam O. |date=2021-11-16 |title=Computer-assisted classification of contrarian claims about climate change |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01714-4 |journal=] |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-01714-4 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8595491 |pmid=34785707 |quote=Notably, prominent contrarian CTTs such as the Heartland Institute are heavily dependent upon these key donors and, in particular the “donor-advised” funding flows from Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which ensure anonymous funding to conservative causes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brulle |first=Robert J. |last2=Hall |first2=Galen |last3=Loy |first3=Loredana |last4=Schell-Smith |first4=Kennedy |date=May 2021 |title=Obstructing action: foundation funding and US climate change counter-movement organizations |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-021-03117-w |journal=] |language=en |volume=166 |issue=1-2 |doi=10.1007/s10584-021-03117-w |issn=0165-0009 |quote=Donors Trust and DCF alone account for 13.7% of grants.}}</ref><ref name="secret" /><ref name="MotherJones20130205" /> | |||
The board of Donors Trust includes:<ref name=board/> | |||
* ], President & CEO. Ball is formerly the Executive Director of the nonprofit ] and Director of Development at the ], a US libertarian think tank. She is a member of the board of directors of the ] and the ]. | |||
''The Guardian'' reported DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly $120 million to 102 think tanks and action groups "which have a record of denying the existence of a human factor in climate change, or opposing environmental regulations" between 2002 and 2010.<ref name="secret">{{cite news |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Suzanne |author-link=Suzanne Goldenberg |title=Secret funding helped build vast network of climate denial thinktanks |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/funding-climate-change-denial-thinktanks-network |access-date=February 7, 2015 |newspaper=] |date=February 14, 2013 |archive-date=May 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525121334/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/funding-climate-change-denial-thinktanks-network |url-status=live }}</ref> According to an analysis by ] ] ], between 2003 and 2010, DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund combined were the largest funders of organizations opposed to restrictions on carbon emissions.<ref name="MotherJones20130205" /><ref name="brulle2">{{cite journal |last1=Brulle |first1=Robert J. |s2cid=27538787 |author-link=Robert Brulle |title=Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations |journal=] |date=December 21, 2013 |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=681–94 |doi=10.1007/s10584-013-1018-7}}</ref> By 2009, approximately one-quarter of the funding of what Brulle calls the "climate change counter-movement" came from grants via DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund.<ref name="brulle" /> | |||
* Kimberly Dennis, Chairman; President of the ]. | |||
* ], Vice Chairman; ] conservative scholar and President of the ]. | |||
As of 2010, DonorsTrust grants to conservative and libertarian organizations active in climate change issues included more than $17 million to the ], a think tank; $13.5 million to the ], a public policy think tank; and $11 million to ], a political advocacy group.<ref name=Guardian021413>{{cite news |title=How Donors Trust distributed millions to anti-climate groups |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/donors-trust-funding-climate-denial-networks |access-date=March 5, 2015 |newspaper=] |date=February 14, 2013 |author-link=Suzanne Goldenberg |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg |archive-date=April 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409165028/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/donors-trust-funding-climate-denial-networks |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2011, the ] (CFACT), a conservative Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit organization, received $1.2 million from Donors Trust, 40 percent of CFACT's revenue in that year.<ref name=businessinsider/> Climate change writer ] received hundreds of thousands of dollars from DonorsTrust.<ref name="doubtful">{{cite news |first1=Justin |last1=Gillis |first2=John |last2=Schwartz |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/us/ties-to-corporate-cash-for-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html |title=Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher |date=February 21, 2015 |access-date=March 3, 2015 |newspaper=] |archive-date=November 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108123302/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/us/ties-to-corporate-cash-for-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Basken 2015">{{cite web |last=Basken |first=Paul |title=A Climate Crusader Melts, Exposing a Profitable Link to Harvard's Name |work=] |date=February 25, 2015 |url=http://m.chronicle.com/article/A-Climate-Crusader-Melts/190349/ |access-date=March 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303134706/http://m.chronicle.com/article/A-Climate-Crusader-Melts/190349 |archive-date=March 3, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2015, ''The Guardian'' reported that Donors Trust gave $4.3 million to the Competitive Enterprise Institute over three years.<ref name="Guardian 2015">{{cite news |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Suzanne |last2=Bengtsson |first2=Helena |date=June 9, 2015 |title=Secretive donors gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/secretive-donors-gave-us-climate-denial-groups-125m-over-three-years |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130234026/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/secretive-donors-gave-us-climate-denial-groups-125m-over-three-years |archive-date=November 30, 2016 |access-date=November 30, 2016 |work=]}}</ref> | |||
* ], ] heir, businessman and conservative philanthropist and Chairman of the Board of ]. | |||
===State-based policy funding=== | |||
Between 2008 and 2013, DonorsTrust granted $10 million to the ] (SPN), a national network of conservative and libertarian think tanks focused on ]. SPN used the grants to incubate new think tanks in Arkansas, Rhode Island and Florida. DonorsTrust also issued grants to SPN's affiliates at the state level during the same period. The ], a nonprofit organization of conservative ] and ] representatives that drafts and shares model state-level legislation, is a DonorsTrust recipient.<ref name=nbc>{{cite news |title=Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states |first=Paul |last=Abowd |url=http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/14/16939114-koch-funded-charity-passes-money-to-free-market-think-tanks-in-states |access-date=March 10, 2015 |date=February 14, 2013 |work=] |agency=] |archive-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313170452/http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/14/16939114-koch-funded-charity-passes-money-to-free-market-think-tanks-in-states |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Project Veritas === | |||
{{Main|Project Veritas}} | |||
The organization donated $1.7 million to Project Veritas, a watchdog group run by conservative activist ], which uses undercover videos to demonstrate the bias in mainstream media organizations and liberal groups.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/project-veritas-received-17-million-last-year-from-koch-backed-charity/2017/12/01/143e13ca-d6d3-11e7-9461-ba77d604373d_story.html|title=Project Veritas received $1.7 million last year from charity associated with the Koch brothers|last=O'Harrow|first=Robert Jr.|date=2017-12-02|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2017-12-02|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=August 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827153352/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/project-veritas-received-17-million-last-year-from-koch-backed-charity/2017/12/01/143e13ca-d6d3-11e7-9461-ba77d604373d_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> DonorsTrust's relationship with Project Veritas came under scrutiny in 2017 after Project Veritas had one of its operatives contact '']'', falsely claiming to have been impregnated by ] while she was a teenager.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
=== Elections and the judiciary === | |||
In 2018, the organization funded more than 99% of the ], a legal alias for Honest Elections Project and ].<ref name=Guardian_20200527>{{Cite news|last1=Levine|first1=Sam|last2=Massoglia|first2=Anna|date=2020-05-27|title=Revealed: conservative group fighting to restrict voting tied to powerful dark money network|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/27/honest-elections-project-conservative-voting-restrictions|access-date=2020-05-28|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=May 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528103353/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/27/honest-elections-project-conservative-voting-restrictions|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/leonard-leo-crc-advisors-federalist-society-50d4d844-19a3-4eab-af2b-7b74f1617d1c.html|title=Leonard Leo to shape new conservative network, step aside from the Federalist Society|first1=Jonathan|last1=Swan|first2=Alayna|last2=Treene|website=Axios|access-date=June 15, 2020|archive-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614202717/https://www.axios.com/leonard-leo-crc-advisors-federalist-society-50d4d844-19a3-4eab-af2b-7b74f1617d1c.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Conservative 'dark money' network rebranded to push voting restrictions before 2020 election |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/05/conservative-dark-money-network-voting-restrict/ |date=2020-05-27 |publisher=] |access-date=May 28, 2020 |archive-date=March 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311120953/https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/05/conservative-dark-money-network-voting-restrict/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== Board of directors == | |||
The board of directors of DonorsTrust includes:<ref name=board/> | |||
* Kimberly Dennis, chairman – president of the Searle Freedom Trust | |||
* Lawson Bader, president and CEO – DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund | |||
* ], vice chairman – conservative scholar and president of the ] | |||
* Thomas E. Beach | |||
* George G.H. Coates Jr. – chairman of the ] | |||
== See also == | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* {{official website}} | |||
* | |||
* – ] (]) | * – ] (]) | ||
* {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|522166327}} | |||
* , archive of ] maintained by ] | |||
{{authority control}} | |||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
] |
Latest revision as of 21:55, 19 December 2024
American nonprofit donor-advised fund
Formation | 1999 |
---|---|
Type | Nonprofit (IRC § 501(c)(3)) |
Tax ID no. | 52-2166327 |
Location |
|
Coordinates | 38°48′20″N 77°03′37″W / 38.8056°N 77.0603°W / 38.8056; -77.0603 |
Services | Donor-advised fund |
CEO | Lawson Bader |
Board of directors |
|
Affiliations | Donors Capital Fund |
Revenue | $323 million (2022) |
Expenses | $248 million (2022) |
Endowment | $1.39 billion in assets (2022) |
Website | donorstrust |
DonorsTrust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, DonorsTrust is not legally required to disclose the identity of its donors, and most of its donors remain anonymous. It distributes funds to various conservative and libertarian organizations, and has been characterized as the "dark money ATM" of the political right.
It is affiliated with Donors Capital Fund, another donor-advised fund. In September 2015, Lawson Bader was announced as the new president of both DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund. Bader was formerly president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Vice President at the Mercatus Center.
Overview
DonorsTrust is a 501(c)(3) organization. As a public charity and a donor-advised fund, DonorsTrust offers clients a variety of tax advantages compared to a private foundation.
DonorsTrust accepts donations from charitable foundations and individuals. Grants from DonorsTrust are based on the preferences of the original contributor, and the organization assures clients that their contributions will never be used to support politically liberal causes. As a donor advised fund, DonorsTrust can offer anonymity to individual donors, with respect to their donations to DonorsTrust, as well as with respect to an individual donor's ultimate grantee.
As a donor advised fund and public charity, DonorsTrust accepts cash or assets from donors, and in turn creates a separate account for the donor, who may recommend disbursements from the fund to other public charities. DonorsTrust requires an initial deposit of $10,000 or more. DonorsTrust is associated with Donors Capital Fund. DonorsTrust refers clients to Donors Capital Fund if the client plans to maintain a balance of $1 million or more. DonorsTrust president Lawson Bader said the goal of the organization is to "safeguard the intent of libertarian and conservative donors," ensuring that funds are used only to promote "liberty through limited government, responsibility, and free enterprise".
History
DonorsTrust was established in 1999 by Whitney Lynn Ball. According to DonorsTrust, the organization was founded by a group of donors and nonprofit executives who were "actively engaged in supporting and promoting a free society as understood in America's founding documents." A major selling point to donors is that even after their death, their money will continue to fund conservative/libertarian goals, and not change based on the attitudes of their heirs or trustees as a family foundation might.
In early 2013, DonorsTrust was the subject of reports by The Independent, The Guardian, Mother Jones, and the Center for Public Integrity. Mother Jones described DonorsTrust as having funded a conservative public policy agenda in the areas of labor unions, climate science, public schools, and economic regulations.
In January 2021, CNBC reported that in 2019, DonorsTrust had given millions of dollars to conservative organizations that went on to push claims of election fraud in the 2020 election.
Donors
As of 2013, DonorsTrust had 193 contributors, mostly individuals, and some foundations.
The Charles G. Koch Foundation contributed millions to DonorsTrust since the mid-2000s. Two Koch brothers, Charles and David Koch, were the top contributors to DonorsTrust in 2011, according to an analysis by the Columbia Journalism Review. In 2010, DonorsTrust received a US$2 million grant from the Donors Capital Fund.
DonorsTrust account holders have included the John M. Olin Foundation, the Castle Rock Foundation, the Searle Freedom Trust, and the Bradley Foundation. The Bradley family contributed $650,000 between 2001 and 2010. The DeVos family foundation contributed $1 million in 2009 and $1.5 million in 2010 to Donors Trust.
Robert Mercer and Rebekah Mercer contributed nearly $20 million through DonorsTrust in 2020.
Recipients
From its founding in 1999 through 2013, DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly $400 million, and through 2015 $740 million, to various nonprofit organizations, including numerous conservative and libertarian causes. DonorsTrust requires that recipients are registered with the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Whitney Ball, the former president of the Trust, told The Guardian in 2013 that it has about 1,600 grantees. In 2014, Ball said that 70 to 75 percent of grants go to public policy organizations, with the rest going to more conventional charities such as social service and educational organizations.
In 2010, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation received a DonorsTrust grant of $7 million, nearly half of the Foundation's revenue that year. Other DonorsTrust recipients have included The Heritage Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform, the National Rifle Association Freedom Action Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society, the FreedomWorks Foundation, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, and the Center for Class Action Fairness.
DonorsTrust paid the legal fees of the Project on Fair Representation, a Washington, D.C.–based legal defense fund that assembled the plaintiff's legal team in Fisher v. University of Texas, a 2013 United States Supreme Court case concerning affirmative action college admissions policies. In 2011, the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, an online conservative news organization, received $6.3 million in DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund grants, 95 percent of the center's revenue that year.
Other DonorsTrust recipients have included the Foundation for Jewish Camp, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the James Randi Educational Foundation, the Marijuana Policy Project, and PragerU.
Climate change contrarian funding
DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund have been major sources of funding for conservative groups with contrarian stances on climate change.
The Guardian reported DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly $120 million to 102 think tanks and action groups "which have a record of denying the existence of a human factor in climate change, or opposing environmental regulations" between 2002 and 2010. According to an analysis by Drexel University environmental sociologist Robert Brulle, between 2003 and 2010, DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund combined were the largest funders of organizations opposed to restrictions on carbon emissions. By 2009, approximately one-quarter of the funding of what Brulle calls the "climate change counter-movement" came from grants via DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund.
As of 2010, DonorsTrust grants to conservative and libertarian organizations active in climate change issues included more than $17 million to the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank; $13.5 million to the Heartland Institute, a public policy think tank; and $11 million to Americans for Prosperity, a political advocacy group. In 2011, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a conservative Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit organization, received $1.2 million from Donors Trust, 40 percent of CFACT's revenue in that year. Climate change writer Wei-Hock "Willie" Soon received hundreds of thousands of dollars from DonorsTrust. In 2015, The Guardian reported that Donors Trust gave $4.3 million to the Competitive Enterprise Institute over three years.
State-based policy funding
Between 2008 and 2013, DonorsTrust granted $10 million to the State Policy Network (SPN), a national network of conservative and libertarian think tanks focused on state-level policy. SPN used the grants to incubate new think tanks in Arkansas, Rhode Island and Florida. DonorsTrust also issued grants to SPN's affiliates at the state level during the same period. The American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives that drafts and shares model state-level legislation, is a DonorsTrust recipient.
Project Veritas
Main article: Project VeritasThe organization donated $1.7 million to Project Veritas, a watchdog group run by conservative activist James O'Keefe, which uses undercover videos to demonstrate the bias in mainstream media organizations and liberal groups. DonorsTrust's relationship with Project Veritas came under scrutiny in 2017 after Project Veritas had one of its operatives contact The Washington Post, falsely claiming to have been impregnated by Roy Moore while she was a teenager.
Elections and the judiciary
In 2018, the organization funded more than 99% of the Judicial Education Project, a legal alias for Honest Elections Project and The 85 Fund.
Board of directors
The board of directors of DonorsTrust includes:
- Kimberly Dennis, chairman – president of the Searle Freedom Trust
- Lawson Bader, president and CEO – DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund
- James Piereson, vice chairman – conservative scholar and president of the William E. Simon Foundation
- Thomas E. Beach
- George G.H. Coates Jr. – chairman of the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives
See also
- Citizens for Self-Governance
- Convention of States Project
- Open the States & Convention of States Action
References
- ^ "2017 IRS 990 FORM". Archived from the original on April 23, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
- ^ "DonorsTrust's New CEO". Donors Trust. September 22, 2015. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
- ^ "Directors & Staff - DonorsTrust". Donors Trust. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
- ^ "Donors Trust Inc". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. 2022. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
- ^ Callahan, David (March 3, 2016). "Inside DonorsTrust: What This Mission-Driven DAF Offers Philanthropists on the Right". Inside Philanthropy. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ Kroll, Andy (February 5, 2013). "Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- Callahan, David (August 23, 2017). "Inside DonorsTrust: What This Mission-Driven DAF Offers Philanthropists on the Right". Inside Philanthropy. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- SLODYSKO, Brian (July 27, 2020). "Wealthy donors pour millions into fight over mail-in voting". Minneapolis Tribune. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
A substantial portion of the financing comes from Donors Trust, a nonprofit often referred to as the "dark money ATM" of the conservative movement. The organization helps wealthy patrons invest in causes they care about while sheltering their identities from the public.
- ^ Levine, Sam; Massoglia, Anna (May 27, 2020). "Revealed: conservative group fighting to restrict voting tied to powerful dark money network". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
- ^ Abowd, Paul (February 14, 2013). "Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states". NBC News. Center for Public Integrity. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
- ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (February 15, 2013). "Media campaign against windfarms funded by anonymous conservatives". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 15, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (February 14, 2013). "Secret funding helped build vast network of climate denial thinktanks". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
- ^ "Mission & Principles". Donors Trust. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ Hickley, Walter (February 12, 2013). "Inside The Secretive Dark-Money Organization That's Keeping The Lights On For Conservative Groups". Business Insider. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
- ^ "The future of donor-advised funds". Philanthropy Roundtable. September 2005. Archived from the original on May 4, 2017.
- "FAQs". Donors Trust. Archived from the original on July 15, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- "Open An Account". Donors Trust. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ Kroll, Andy (February 5, 2013). "Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
- ^ "Robert Brulle: Inside the Climate Change "Countermovement"". Frontline. PBS. October 23, 2012. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- "What is Donors Capital Fund?". Donors Capital Fund. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- Gillespie, Nick (August 18, 2015). "Whitney Ball, Founder of DonorsTrust, RIP". Reason. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ Connor, Steve (January 24, 2013). "Exclusive: Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
- ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (February 14, 2013). "How Donors Trust distributed millions to anti-climate groups". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- ^ Kroll, Andy (February 11, 2013). "Exclusive: Donors Trust, The Right's Dark-Money ATM, Paid Out $30 Million in 2011". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
- Schwartz, Brian (January 13, 2021). "Dark-money GOP fund funneled millions of dollars to groups that pushed voter fraud claims". CNBC. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
- Lewis, Charles; Holmberg, Eric; Fernandez Campbell, Alexia; Beyoud, Lydia (July 1, 2013). "Koch millions spread influence through nonprofits, colleges". Investigative Reporting Workshop. American University School of Communication. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- "Project Veritas received $1.7 million last year from charity associated with the Koch brothers". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019.
- Chavkin, Sasha (April 22, 2013). "The Koch brothers' media investment". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
In 2011, fully 95 percent of the Franklin Center's revenues came from a charity called Donors Trust, whose top contributors were the Koch brothers.
- Miller, John J. (November 8, 2007). "Daniel C. Searle, R.I.P." National Review. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- Schwartz, Brian (September 15, 2021). "Mercer family played bigger role in 2020 election than thought, giving nearly $20 million to dark money GOP fund". CNBC. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
In 2019, the Donors Trust, sent donations to groups such as Turning Point USA, which is led by vocal Trump supporter Charlie Kirk; and the VDARE Foundation, which the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled a hate group.
- Goodman, Amy (February 19, 2013). "Donors Trust: Little-Known Group Helps Wealthy Backers Fund Right-Wing Agenda in Secret". Democracy Now!. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
- Meyerson, Adam (August 17, 2015). "Whitney Ball Was a Champion of Liberty Par Excellence". National Review. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
- Connor, Steve (January 24, 2013). "How the 'Kochtopus' stifled green debate; Behind the climate 'countermovement' are two billionaire brothers". The Independent. Archived from the original on April 21, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
- ^ Zeiser, Bill (September 24, 2014). "Dark Money: The Left's unprincipled campaign against philanthropic privacy". National Review. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
- Pettersson, Edvard (February 17, 2015). "Koch Group Gets to Keep Donors Secret in California Lawsuit". Bloomberg Business. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
- Zahorsky, Rachel (April 1, 2010). "Unsettling Advocate". ABA Journal. American Bar Association. Archived from the original on March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- Smith, Morgan (February 23, 2012). "One Man Standing Against Race-Based Laws". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
- "Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states". Center for Public Integrity. February 14, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2024 – via NBC News.
- Goldenberg, Suzanne; Bengtsson, Helena (June 9, 2015). "Secretive donors gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
- "Marijuana Policy Project". OpenSecrets. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
- Morse Wooster, Martin (August 26, 2015). "Remembering Whitney Ball's lasting but rarely noticed work". Philanthropy Daily. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
- Kotch, Alex (December 27, 2018). "Who Funds PragerU's Anti-Muslim Content?". Sludge. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- Coan, Travis G.; Boussalis, Constantine; Cook, John; Nanko, Mirjam O. (November 16, 2021). "Computer-assisted classification of contrarian claims about climate change". Scientific Reports. 11 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01714-4. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8595491. PMID 34785707.
Notably, prominent contrarian CTTs such as the Heartland Institute are heavily dependent upon these key donors and, in particular the "donor-advised" funding flows from Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which ensure anonymous funding to conservative causes
- Brulle, Robert J.; Hall, Galen; Loy, Loredana; Schell-Smith, Kennedy (May 2021). "Obstructing action: foundation funding and US climate change counter-movement organizations". Climatic Change. 166 (1–2). doi:10.1007/s10584-021-03117-w. ISSN 0165-0009.
Donors Trust and DCF alone account for 13.7% of grants.
- Brulle, Robert J. (December 21, 2013). "Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations". Climatic Change. 122 (4): 681–94. doi:10.1007/s10584-013-1018-7. S2CID 27538787.
- Gillis, Justin; Schwartz, John (February 21, 2015). "Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- Basken, Paul (February 25, 2015). "A Climate Crusader Melts, Exposing a Profitable Link to Harvard's Name". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- Goldenberg, Suzanne; Bengtsson, Helena (June 9, 2015). "Secretive donors gave US climate denial groups $125m over three years". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ O'Harrow, Robert Jr. (December 2, 2017). "Project Veritas received $1.7 million last year from charity associated with the Koch brothers". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- Swan, Jonathan; Treene, Alayna. "Leonard Leo to shape new conservative network, step aside from the Federalist Society". Axios. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- "Conservative 'dark money' network rebranded to push voting restrictions before 2020 election". OpenSecrets. May 27, 2020. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
External links
- Official website
- Organizational Profile – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)
- "DonorsTrust Internal Revenue Service filings". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.