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Donors Trust files with the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] as a [[501(c) organization#501(c)(3)|501(c)(3)]] organization.<ref name=IRS/>
Donors Trust files with the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] as a [[501(c) organization#501(c)(3)|501(c)(3)]] organization.<ref name=IRS/>

== Donors ==

Donors Trust requires an initial deposit of $10,0000 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=MotherJones/> As of 2013, Donors Trust had 193 contributors, mostly individuals, and some foundations.<ref name=nbc/>

Individual Donors Trust account holders include [[Richard DeVos]], American [[businessman]], co-founder of [[Amway]]; [[Paul Singer (businessman)|Paul Singer]], American hedge fund manager, investor, philanthropist, and political activist; and [[Philip Anschutz]], American entrepreneur.<ref name=nbc/> The DeVos family foundation contributed $1 million in 2009 and $1.5 million in 2010.<ref name=MotherJones/>

The Knowledge and Progress Fund, chaired by [[Charles Koch]], contributed $2 million in 2010, and more than $3.2 million to Donors Trust prior to 2012.<ref name=MotherJones/><ref name=forbes>{{cite news |title=Tracking Koch Money and Americans for Prosperity |first=Laurie |last=Bennett |publisher=[[Forbes]] |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> The Charles G. Koch Foundation and the Knowledge and Progress Fund 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=[[Investigative Reporting Workshop]] |publisher=[[American University School of Communication]] |date=July 1, 2013 |accessdate=March 3, 2015}}</ref> Other foundation Donors Trust account holders include the [[Bradley Foundation|Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation]], an [[American conservativism|American conservative]] [[foundation (charity)|foundation]]; the [[John M. Olin Foundation]], an American grant-making [[foundation (charity)|foundation]] established in 1953; and the [[Castle Rock Foundation]], an [[Conservatism in the United States|American conservative]] foundation started in 1993 with an endowment from the [[Adolph Coors Foundation]].<ref name=nbc/> The Bradley Foundation contributed $650,000 between 2001 and 2010.<ref name=MotherJones/>


== Recipients ==
== Recipients ==


Donors Trust has provided funds to numerous conservative and libertarian causes. In 2010, Donors Trust granted $7 million to the [[Americans for Prosperity Foundation]], a conservative [[political advocacy group]].<ref name=forbes/> The Donors Trust grant was nearly half of the Foundation's 2010 revenue.<ref name=nbc/> In 2011, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund granted $6.3 million to the [[Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity]], a conservative online news organization, for a campaign against [[wind power|wind]] and [[solar power]].<ref name=Guardian021513/> The Donors Trust grant was 95% of the Center's 2011 revenue.<ref name=nbc/> Donors Trust recipients include the [[Heritage Foundation]], the [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[think tank]] based in [[Washington, D.C.]]; [[Americans for Tax Reform]], a [[taxpayer groups|taxpayer]] [[advocacy group]]; the [[National Rifle Association]] Freedom Action Foundation; the [[Cato Institute]], an [[American libertarian]] think tank headquartered in [[Washington, D.C.]]; and the [[Federalist Society]], the organization of conservatives and [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarians]] seeking reform of the current [[Law of the United States|American legal system]] in accordance with a [[Textualism|textualist]] or [[Originalism|originalist]] interpretation of the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]].<ref name=MotherJones/>
Donors Trust has provided funds to numerous conservative and libertarian causes. In 2010, Donors Trust granted $7 million to the [[Americans for Prosperity Foundation]], a conservative [[political advocacy group]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Tracking Koch Money and Americans for Prosperity |first=Laurie |last=Bennett |publisher=[[Forbes]] |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> In 2011, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund granted $6.3 million to the [[Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity]], a conservative online news organization, for a campaign against [[wind power|wind]] and [[solar power]].<ref name=Guardian021513/>


Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund combined were the largest funders of climate change counter-movement organizations in the US between 2003 and 2013, according to a 2013 analysis by [[Drexel University]] [[environmental sociology|environmental sociologist]] [[Robert Brulle]].<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=[[Climatic Change (journal)|Climatic Change]] |date=December 21, 2013 |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=681–694 |doi=10.1007/s10584-013-1018-7}}</ref><ref name="MJ">{{cite news|last=Kroll|first=Andy|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|newspaper=Mother Jones|date=February 5, 2013}}</ref> According to Brulle, "by 2009, about one-quarter of the funding of the climate countermovement is from the Donors Trust, Donors Capital Fund."<ref name=brulle/> Donors Trust and the Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly $120 million to more than 100 [[climate change denial]] groups between 2002 and 2010, according to ''[[The Guardian]]''.<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=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 14, 2013}}</ref> As of 2010, Donors Trust granted more than $17 million to the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a private, conservative, not-for-profit [[think tank]]; $13.5 million to the [[Heartland Institute]], the American conservative and [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarian]] public policy think tank; and $11m to [[Americans for Prosperity]], the conservative [[political advocacy group]]. The [[Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow]] (CFACT), the conservative [[Washington, D.C.]]-based [[non-profit organization]], is a Donors Trust recipient.<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=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 14, 2013 |authorlink=Suzanne Goldenberg |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg}}</ref> [[Willie Soon|Wei-Hock "Willie" Soon]], a part-time employee of the [[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics]] and a frequently-quoted disputant of the consensus view that human activity is a significant contributor to climate change, 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=[[New York Times]]}}</ref>
Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund combined were the largest funders of climate change counter-movement organizations in the US between 2003 and 2013, according to a 2013 analysis by [[Drexel University]] [[environmental sociology|environmental sociologist]] [[Robert Brulle]].<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=[[Climatic Change (journal)|Climatic Change]] |date=December 21, 2013 |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=681–694 |doi=10.1007/s10584-013-1018-7}}</ref><ref name="MJ">{{cite news|last=Kroll|first=Andy|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|newspaper=Mother Jones|date=February 5, 2013}}</ref> According to Brulle, "by 2009, about one-quarter of the funding of the climate countermovement is from the Donors Trust, Donors Capital Fund."<ref name=brulle/> Donors Trust and the Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly $120 million to more than 100 [[climate change denial]] groups between 2002 and 2010, according to ''[[The Guardian]]''.<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=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 14, 2013}}</ref>


Donors Trust granted $10 million to the [[State Policy Network]], a national network of conservative and libertarian [[think tank]]s focused on [[state policy (United States)|state-level policy]], between 2008 and 2013. The State Policy Network used the grants to incubate new think tanks in Arkansas, Rhode Island and Florida. Donors Trust also issued grants to the State Policy Network’s affiliates at the state level during the same period. The [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] (ALEC), the nonprofit organization of conservative [[state legislature (United States)|state legislators]] and [[private sector]] 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 |publisher=[[NBC News]]}}</ref>
Donors Trust granted $10 million to the [[State Policy Network]], a national network of conservative and libertarian [[think tank]]s focused on [[state policy (United States)|state-level policy]], between 2008 and 2013. Donors Trust also issued grants to the State Policy Network’s affiliates at the state level during the same period.<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 |publisher=[[NBC News]]}}</ref>


==Board of directors==
==Board of directors==

Revision as of 18:14, 5 March 2015

Donors Trust
Formation1999
TypeNonprofit (IRC § 501(c)(3))[1]
52-2166327
Location
Coordinates38°48′20″N 77°03′37″W / 38.8056°N 77.0603°W / 38.8056; -77.0603
ServicesDonor advised fund
President
Whitney Ball
Kimberly Dennis, James Piereson, Thomas Beach, William J. Hume, Jeffrey Zysik[2]
AffiliationsDonors Capital Fund
Revenue (2012)
$58,728,084[1]
Expenses (2012)$43,106,986[1]
Websitewww.donorstrust.org

Donors Trust (DT) is a nonprofit donor advised fund which offers anonymity to people who wish to contribute to conservative and libertarian organizations but who do not wish to make their donations public. Based in Virginia, it is affiliated with Donors Capital Fund, another donor advised fund.

History

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.”[3][4] 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."[5] It relies on donors from charitable foundations and independent individuals.[6] The organization assures donors that their donated funds will never be used to support liberal causes.[7][5] 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.[8][7][9][10]

Donors Trust is associated with Donors Capital Fund. Donors Trust refers clients to Donors Capital Fund if the client plans to maintain a balance of $1 million or more.[11][12]

The progressive news magazine 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."[13]

Donors Trust files with the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization.[1]

Recipients

Donors Trust has provided funds to numerous conservative and libertarian causes. In 2010, Donors Trust granted $7 million to the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a conservative political advocacy group.[14] In 2011, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund granted $6.3 million to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a conservative online news organization, for a campaign against wind and solar power.[6]

Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund combined were the largest funders of climate change counter-movement organizations in the US between 2003 and 2013, according to a 2013 analysis by Drexel University environmental sociologist Robert Brulle.[15][16] According to Brulle, "by 2009, about one-quarter of the funding of the climate countermovement is from the Donors Trust, Donors Capital Fund."[11] Donors Trust and the Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly $120 million to more than 100 climate change denial groups between 2002 and 2010, according to The Guardian.[7]

Donors Trust granted $10 million to the State Policy Network, a national network of conservative and libertarian think tanks focused on state-level policy, between 2008 and 2013. Donors Trust also issued grants to the State Policy Network’s affiliates at the state level during the same period.[17]

Board of directors

The corporation's board of directors includes:[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "2012 IRS Form 990" (PDF). GuideStar. IRS. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Donors Trust Officers & Directors". Donors Trust. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  3. ^ Abowd, Paul (February 14, 2013). "Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  4. ^ Zeiser, Bill (September 4, 2014). "Dark Money". National Review. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Mission & Principles". Donors Trust. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Goldenberg, Suzanne (February 15, 2013). "Media campaign against windfarms funded by anonymous conservatives". The Guardian. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c Goldenberg, Suzanne (February 14, 2013). "Secret funding helped build vast network of climate denial thinktanks". The Guardian. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  8. ^ Walter Hickley (February 12, 2013). "Inside The Secretive Dark-Money Organization That's Keeping The Lights On For Conservative Groups". Business Insider. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  9. ^ "The future of donor-advised funds" (PDF). Philanthropy Roundtable. September 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  10. ^ "FAQs". Donors Trust. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Robert Brulle: Inside the Climate Change "Countermovement"". Frontline. PBS. October 23, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  12. ^ "What is Donors Capital Fund?". Donors Capital Fund. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  13. ^ Kroll, Andy (February 5, 2013). "Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement". Mother Jones. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  14. ^ Bennett, Laurie (March 31, 2012). "Tracking Koch Money and Americans for Prosperity". Forbes. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  15. ^ 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): 681–694. doi:10.1007/s10584-013-1018-7.
  16. ^ Kroll, Andy (February 5, 2013). "Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement". Mother Jones.
  17. ^ Abowd, Paul (February 14, 2013). "Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states". NBC News. Retrieved February 16, 2015.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donors_Trust&oldid=650022959"