DonorsTrust

  • Philanthropy Roundtable – 1970s, member of SPN, Former Executive Director Whitney Ball, President Adam Meyerson, Family Foundations’ pooled money; 1999 created DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund which do the same
    • Education Reform
    • Bush-Era Neoconservatives “According to the Institute for Policy Studies, the Roundtable has well-established links to prominent neoconservatives: ‘Philanthropy Roundtable directors have included Leslie Lenkwosky and John Waters, both of whom served in the George W. Bush administration, as well as Kim Dennis, now executive director of the Searle Freedom Trust. Adam Meyerson, a former vice president of the Heritage Foundation, has been the director since 2001. Meyerson is co-editor of the Wall Street Journal on Management, former editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, former managing editor of the American Spectator, and the spouse of Nina Shea, the director of the Center for Religious Freedom at Hudson Institute and a long-standing neoconservative activist.” [19]‘”

Sourcewatch “A background document from the Bradley Files provides insight into the history of the Philanthropy Roundtable and its activities,

“The Roundtable began in the late 1970s under the auspices of the Institute for Educational affairs as an informal network of grant makers focused on promoting private, voluntary approaches to improve the lives of individual citizens in their respective communities, and, thereby, in the nation as a whole. Over time the Roundtable evolved into a nationwide network of donors supporting annually conferences and publications which became a free-standing organization with an independent board and staff. In this organizational arrangement the Roundtable aims to assist philanthropists in learning about effective giving strategies.”
“The Roundtable’s total expenses in 2015 were $8,415,471. Of that amount 87% is allocated for program expenses, 8% for administration and 5% for fundraising. The Philanthropy Roundtable ended 2015 with 635 contributing members, with 68 of these individuals and organizations contributing $25,000 or more. A total of 28 donors made a contribution of at least $100,000 in 2015. The list of prominent donors include amongst others the Anschutz, Arnold, Gates, Kauffman, Maclellan, Bernie Marcus (Home Depot), Milbank, M.J. Murdock, Randolph, Seattle, Spencer,and Templeton Foundations.”[7], also per Sourcewatch, “John William Pope Foundation, also funded the State Policy Network (SPN).[20]Tepper,, DeVos, Tepper, Colcom, ,Bradley, JM Foundation, Krieble, Searle, Armstrong, Roe, Jaquelin Hume, Peters, William E. Simon, Thomas B. Fordham, Paul E. Singer, Kirby, Philip M. McKenna, Allegheny,Scaife, Charles Koch,Donald Rumsfeld, Mercer, Barney, Curry, Swensrud, Stuart, Earhart, Allegheny, Lillian S. Wells, Barre Seid,Cain, Olin, Cullom Davis,Smith Richardson, Walton, Donner, Durell, Weiler, JM-Jeremiah Milbank (Borden), Gilder, DonorsTrust, Donors Capital Fund, Challenge Foundation, Marcus Autism Center, The Piedmont Schools of Atlanta, Castle Rock Foundation (Coors), Deramus Foundation (Islamophobia), International Justice Mission, Foundation of Texas, 
Donors Capital Fund-Director Whitney Ball
  • DonorsTrust CEO & President Whitney Ball

Koch Network Foundations Fund DonorsTrust

The Kochs. Sourcewatch “Koch Family Foundations gave an aggregate of $363,445 to the Philanthropy Roundtable between 1993 and 2012.[10] The Philanthropy Roundtable received $319,245 in donations from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation between 1993 and 2012; and $44,200 from the Claude R. Lambe Foundation between 2002 and 2003.[11]“

DonorsTrust, directly and through nested organizations funds these organizations:

Arlington, VA,

Sourcewatch “DonorsTrust (DT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit started in 1999 “to ensure the intent of donors who are dedicated to the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise.”[1] Along with its supporting 509(a)(3) organization Donors Capital Fund (DCF), it is a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable, a coordinating body for conservative foundations founded by Whitney L. Ball, who passed away in 2015. The current president and CEO of DCF and DT is Lawson R. Bader, former president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Both funding organizations are “donor-advised funds,” which means that the fund creates separate accounts for individual donors, and the donors then recommend disbursements from the accounts to different non-profits. They cloak the identity of the original mystery donors because the funds are then distributed in the name of DT or DCF, contributing another step to what has been called a “murky money maze.”[2] The twin Donors organizations are advertised as a way for very wealthy people and corporations to remain hidden when “funding sensitive or controversial issues,” creating a lack of accountability.[3]. According to the late co-founder Whitney Ball, if donors neglect to give DonorsTrust an intent statement, “DonorsTrust is free to distribute the funds as it sees fit.”[4]. DonorsTrust is an “associate” member of the State Policy Network, a web of right-wing “think tanks” in every state across the country.[5]

“Matthew Whitaker was named acting Attorney General by President Trump after the November 2018 ousting of Jeff Sessions from that role.[6] Prior to his appointment to the Justice Department top spot, Whitaker earned $1.2 million dollars as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT). Whitaker’s salary made up “a sizable chunk” of the organization’s revenue which was “mainly from” DonorsTrust, according to the Associated Press.[7][8] As the director of FACT, Whitaker was an outspoken critic of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.[9] Despite advice from ethic’s officials to do so, Whitaker did not recuse himself from his oversight power into the investigation.[10]Whitaker rejected advice to recuse from Russia probe Although DonorTrust has been the preferred investment vehicle of the Koch Network of donors, any donor, foreign or domestic, could have bankrolled Whitaker’s activities.”Sourcewatch