Donors Capital Fund is a nonprofit United States
donor-advised charity that distributes grants to
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
and
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
organizations. Donors Capital Fund is associated with
Donors Trust
Donors Trust 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, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the id ...
, another donor-advised fund.
Background
Donors Capital Fund is a
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
nonprofit organization
established in 1999.
According to the organization, it was "formed to safeguard the charitable intent of donors who are dedicated to the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise."
Donors Capital Fund assures contributors that their donations will only support "a class of public charities firmly committed to liberty." Grants from Donors Capital Fund are based on the preferences of the original contributor.
[
Donors Capital Fund is associated with ]Donors Trust
Donors Trust 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, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the id ...
. Donors Trust refers clients to Donors Capital Fund if the client plans to maintain a balance of 1 million or more.
Board
As of 2020, the board of directors of Donors Capital Fund includes:
* Lawson Bader
* Adam Meyerson of Philanthropy Roundtable
The Philanthropy Roundtable is a nonprofit organization that advises conservative philanthropists.
History
The Roundtable was founded in 1987 as a project of the now-defunct Institute For Educational Affairs. It was founded as a conservative al ...
* Arthur C. Brooks
Arthur C. Brooks (born May 21, 1964) is an American author, public speaker, and academic. Brooks served as the 11th President of the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of twelve books, including ''Love Your Enemies'' (2019), The ''Co ...
of the American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...
* Kimberly Dennis of the Searle Freedom Trust
The Searle Freedom Trust is a 501(c)(3) grant-making foundation located in the United States. It was established by business executive Daniel C. Searle in 1998. As of 2017, the trust had an endowment of $141 million.
Origins
Searle considered h ...
* Steven F. Hayward of the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs
* Kris Mauren of the Acton Institute
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is an American research and educational institution, or think tank, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, (with an office in Rome) whose stated mission is "to promote a free and virtuous society ch ...
* Scott Bullock of the Institute for Justice
The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a libertarian non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. It has litigated ten cases before the United States Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain, interstate commerce, public financing for e ...
* Roger Ream
Roger R. Ream (born November 12, 1954 in Neenah, Wisconsin, United States) is the president of The Fund for American Studies (TFAS). The mission of TFAS is "to change the world by developing leaders for a free society."
Education
Ream receiv ...
of The Fund for American Studies
The Fund for American Studies is a conservative non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1967, the organization's mission is "to win over each new generation to the ideas of liberty, limited government and free markets."
His ...
Grant-making activities
According to ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund distributed nearly 120 million to more than 100 groups skeptical of global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
between 2002 and 2010. According to a 2013 analysis by Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...
environmental sociologist Robert Brulle, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund combined were the largest funders of what he calls "the climate change countermovement" in the US between 2003 and 2013. Brulle estimated that by 2009, approximately one-quarter of the funding of the "climate countermovement" came from Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund.[
In 2008, Donors Capital Fund granted 17.7 million to the Clarion Fund, now the ]Clarion Project
The Clarion Project (formerly Clarion Fund Inc.) is an American nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was founded in 2006. The organization has been involved in the production and distribution of the films '' Obsession: Radical ...
, a nonprofit organization which "educates the U.S. public about the dangers of Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...
".
Donors Capital Fund granted 192,000 to the Alaska Policy Forum (APF) in the organization's first two years, 2009 and 2010. APF is free-market think tank and a member of the State Policy Network
The State Policy Network (SPN) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a network for conservative and libertarian think tanks focusing on state-level policy in the United States. The network serves as a public policy clearinghouse and advises ...
(SPN) of conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
and libertarian think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
s which focus on state-level policy. The grants from Donors Capital Fund were most of the funds raised by APF in that period. In 2010, Donors Capital Fund granted 1.75 million to SPN, 2 million to Donors Trust, 2.5 million to the American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...
, 2 million to Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in the United States. It functions as a "government watchdog" and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste ...
, 1.7 million to The Heartland Institute
The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank known for its rejection of both the scientific consensus on climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking.
Founded in 1984, it worked wit ...
, and over 206 other grantees.
See also
* Convention of States Project
* Democratic backsliding in the United States
Democratic backsliding has been ongoing in the United States since the late 2010s. The V-Dem Institute's electoral democracy index score for the United States peaked in 2015 and declined sharply after 2016, for which year it was also downgraded ...
* Leonard Leo
Leonard A. Leo (born 1965) is an American lawyer and conservative legal activist. He was the longtime vice president of the Federalist Society and is currently, along with Steven G. Calabresi, the co-chairman of the organization's board of direc ...
* Open the States & Convention of States Action
* The 85 Fund
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.donorscapitalfund.org
Non-profit organizations based in Alexandria, Virginia
Organizations established in 1999
Conservative organizations in the United States
1999 establishments in the United States