Foreign Agents and American Nonprofits
Casey Michel’s book explores, among other things, the growing problem of foreign funding of U.S. nonprofits in order to exert political influence. Addressing this issue might be the best initial…
donor privacy
Hidden Money Trails of Radical Organizations
Organizations are not required to disclose donations by individuals as a matter of U.S. case law (NAACP v. Alabama). But groups can hide donations through fiscal sponsorship. For example, Students…
Concern About and Willingness to Reform Philanthropy Is Cross-Ideological, Survey Finds
As we and colleagues at Inequality.org have recently been getting “together to discuss what’s gone awry in the current state of charitable giving and the incentives our tax system provides to donors,…
Dark Money in the 2024 Election
Since the Citizens United decision in 2010, the definition of “dark money”—which has always been vague—has broadened to include political money for which the original donor is not disclosed. The…
“Dark Money” in the Climate Debate: DISCLOSE Act
Senator Kaine mentioned that he doesn’t believe that the problem of dark money is more significant on the Democratic side than the Republican side. Without citing any dollar figures to…
“Dark Money” in the Climate Debate: “Dark Money” Links
In ten climate hearings, Democrats have never asked a single one of their witnesses about their receipt of dark money, let alone attempted to impugn their integrity or accused them…
“Dark Money” in the Climate Debate: “Cherry-Picked” Data
After the hearing, a Democratic witness took part in an interview, which was published in The Guardian. She specifically said that she “suspected the evidence that Democrats take more dark…
The Media Are Offside on Seid
Barre Seid’s bold contribution of $1.6 billion to the Marble Trust has set off a firestorm of condemnation and has engendered urgent calls for “reform” by the cognoscenti on the…
What Is Dark Money and Is It Bad?
There's been a lot of talk in Washington about "dark money." Activist on the left love to use the term to paint conservatives as funders of shady backroom politics. But…
An Exchange with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse over Forced Donor Disclosure
A few days after CRC president Scott Walter testified in a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Whitehouse sent a letter to CRC and two other nonprofits, asking…