501(c)(3)

Organization Trends
SPLC’s “Charitable” Wealth (Best of 2025)
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is among the most-controversial major left-of-center activist nonprofits in the country, and rightly so. What truly sets SPLC apart, even among its activist-charity peers,…
by Robert Stilson on December 16, 2025

Organization Trends
SPLC’s “Charitable” Wealth
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is among the most-controversial major left-of-center activist nonprofits in the country, and rightly so. What truly sets SPLC apart, even among its activist-charity peers,…
by Robert Stilson on July 16, 2025

Podcast
InfluenceWatch Podcast #366: Harvard and Tax Exemptions
The second Trump administration has conducted an aggressive campaign against Harvard University, targeting its use of racial considerations in admissions and hiring and its apparent lack of concern for the…
by Sarah Lee, Michael Watson on June 4, 2025

Philanthropy
IRS Revokes Sierra Club’s (c)(3) Status, in 1966
Earlier this month, there were rampant rumors that President Donald Trump was going to sign an executive order revoking the nonprofit status of environmental organizations. Since no president can really just revoke…
by Michael E. Hartmann on May 15, 2025

Deception & Misdirection
Foreign Grants: The Darkest of “Dark Money”
New tax filings reveal tens of millions of dollars in “dark money” flowing from the massive nonprofit network managed by the consulting firm Arabella Advisors. But it’s not of…
by Robert Stilson on January 15, 2025

Organization Trends
Vote.org’s Dubious Get-Out-the-Vote Operation
Under IRS regulations, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations can engage in voter registration and get-out-the-vote operations on a nonpartisan basis. They are prohibited from engaging in voter registration or get-out-the-vote efforts that…
by Jonathan McGee on June 23, 2022

Philanthropy
Some Suggestions for Improving the Form 990
Each year, tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations and foundations are required to file returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Most of these groups file Form 990, while § 501(c)(3) private foundations…
by Robert Stilson on March 28, 2022