The Organization Funding Right-Wing Media

This is an analysis from the Center.

We’re all vaguely aware that dark money funds our political system, but this week as I dug through the IRS filings of one donor group, I was shocked by just how much of the political right they fund, including news outlets. 

I came across an analysis from the Center for Media and Democracy, looking at the 2024 IRS 990 form for an organization called DonorsTrust. An IRS 990 shows all the places that had been given grants by the organization, some for specific projects, but many for “general operations.” According to DonorsTrust's website, "We – and the conservative- and libertarian-minded donors with whom we work – believe in preserving the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise."

The Center for Media and Democracy, a progressive organization, says DonorsTrust is “the preferred donor-advised fund of the Koch political network.” DonorsTrust also allows anonymous gifts, saying, “If you wish to keep your charitable giving private, especially gifts funding sensitive or controversial issues, open a DonorsTrust account and ask that your gifts remain anonymous. Any contributions to your DonorsTrust account that have to be reported to the IRS will not become public information,” making the money essentially untraceable for the public, what’s called “dark money.”

Who Is DonorsTrust Funding?

The Trump Administration

DonorsTrust is involved in funding several groups with connections to Donald Trump’s administration. They gave $21,285,450 to America First Legal Foundation, co-founded by Stephen Miller, who now serves as “Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy as well as Homeland Security Advisor, placing him at the center of the White House's domestic and national security agenda,” according to its website. 

DonorsTrust granted another $4,434,00 to the America First Policy Institute. The Co-founder and former CEO of the America First Policy Institute is Brooke Rollins, currently US Secretary of Agriculture. Linda McMahon was the founding chairperson of the organization; she now serves as the US Secretary of the Department of Education. According to Politico (Lean Left bias) the institute was often described as a “White House in waiting.”

Media

The parent media groups DonorsTrust funded in 2024:

• The Reason Foundation (associated with Reason — Center) - $4,987,225 for general operations
• Informing America Foundation - $4,500,000 for general operations
  • According to the Informing America Foundation’s 2023 returns, it funded Performance One Media (owns Steve Bannon’s War Room), Gingrich 360, Accuracy in Media, Bentley Media Group (owns Just the News — Lean Right]), Franklin News Foundation, and Star News Digital Media (owns The Georgia Star News, The Arizona Sun Times, The Wisconsin Daily Star, The Pennsylvania Daily Star, the South Carolina Sun, The Florida Capital Star, The Tennessee Star, The Connecticut Star, The Minnesota Sun, The Virginia Star, The Ohio Star and the Michigan Star.)
• The Real Clear Foundation (RealClearPolitics — Lean Right) - $4,150,000 for general operations
• Lucy Burns Institute (Ballotpedia — Center) - $3,229,038 for general operations and educational efforts related to school board and district elections
• Daily Caller News Foundation (Daily Caller — Right) - $1,801,000 for general operations
• The Prager University Foundation (PragerU — Right) - $1,691,560 for general operations
• The Franklin News Foundation (The Center Square — Lean Right) - $850,000 for general operations
• National Review Institute (National Review — Right)  - $713,700 for general operations, and to support their annual dinner and William F. Buckley gala
• FDRLST Media Foundation (The Federalist — Right) - $270,000 for general operations
• Accuracy in Media (Right) - $148,263 for general operations
• Media Research Center (Right) - $124,360 for general operations
• The Center for American Greatness (American Greatness — Right) - $113,500 for general operations
• Based Politics, Inc. (Based Politics — not rated) - $75,000 for general operations
• Commentary, Inc. (Commentary Magazine — Right)  - $65,430 for general operations and in honor of an annual gala
• Epoch Times Association (The Epoch Times — Lean Right) - $26,000 for general operations

Think Tanks

A non-comprehensive list of the most notable think tanks DonorsTrust funded in 2024: 

• American Enterprise Institute (Lean Right) - $1,954,280 for general operations, for the FREE Initiative, for the Silberman Legacy project and fund, for Sally Satel’s work, and the American Dream Initiative project
• Cato Institute (Lean Right) - $1,288,125 for general operations and the Sphere Education Initiative
• The Heritage Foundation (Right) - $734,673 for general operations and the Going on the Offense on Gender Ideology project
• Hoover Institute - $281,650 for general operations and the military history working group
• Manhattan Institute (Lean Right) - $53,250 for general operations and the Adam Smith Society
• Heartland Institute - $50,000 for environmental research and the Center on Climate and Environmental Policy (known for rejecting climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking.)

Activist Organizations

A non-comprehensive list of the most notable activist organizations DonorsTrust funded in 2024: 

• Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Center) - $2,472,646 for general operations
• Federalist Society - $1,064,400 for general operations and the Stanford Law School student chapter
• Turning Point USA - $932,600 for general operations, Turning Point Faith, and the Citizen Journalism Foundation
• Young Americans for Liberty - $736,250 for general operations and the Florida Project
• Students for Fair Admissions - $725,100 for general operations, for the US Naval Academy Case, and for Air Force Academy litigation
• Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine - $500,000 for general operations
• Students for Liberty - $497,300 for general operations
• Young America’s Foundation - $340,250 for general operations and the Ben Shapiro lecture series
• Moms for Liberty Foundation - $301,000 for general operations
• Judicial Watch (Right) - $174,150 for general operations and for election integrity to prevent government overreach
• Students for Life of America - $80,000 for the Chemical Abortion Taskforce and the Pregnant on Campus project

Israeli Organizations

There were many donations to Chrisitian organizations and churches, as well as some to synagogues. In the list below I’ve excluded places of worship, Jewish centers, community groups, and organizations that work primarily in the US, focusing only on ones that work in Israel or work in the US centered around Israel.

• Passages America Israel - $2,550,000 for general operations and the Israel War Relief Fund
• Central Fund of Israel - $1,830,518 for general operations, for pro-Israel advocacy, for Yad Adhava, for the Jarusalem Center for Public Affairs, and for Justice for Victims of Terror
• Friends of the Israel Defense Forces - $263,180 for general operations and medical equipment and supplies in Israel
• Jewish National Fund - $225,000 to support Keren Kayemeth Leisrael
• TalkIsrael Foundation - $200,000 for general operations
• Israel365 - Teach for Israel - $180,000 for the Israel365 Action Project
• Israel Independence Fund - $150,000 for upgrading the Nirim Crowsheds
• Israel on Campus Coalition - $100,180 for general operations
• American Friends of Israeli Liberty - $95,180 for general operations and the Israeli Law & Liberty Forum
• P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds - $50,000 for the Patrizio Paoletti Association
• Zaka Tel Aviv - $50,000 for medical equipment & supplies in Israel

Why it Matters

The problem with DonorsTrust is two-fold, one aspect is that no one can be held accountable for their influence when the public doesn’t know where the money is from, and the other is that funding activists and politicians as well as the media creates a conflict of interest. 

Both parties have problems with dark money. Politico recently reported on a similar dark money organization on the left, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which donated to PACs, advocacy organizations, and think tanks in 2024 including many environmentalist, pro-democracy, and pro-choice causes. They donated less to media organizations, although they did provide $750,000 to Media Matters (Left) and $260,000 to Courier Newsroom Inc, which owns nearly a dozen local newsrooms. 

Newsrooms have also drawn criticism for being funded by billionaires in some cases, such as Jeff Bezos’ ownership of the Washington Post, and his choice to change the direction of its opinion section. George Soros has given $1.8 million to NPR and funded other fact checkers. The Murdoch family, of course, also owns media on the right and center under News Corp, including The Wall Street Journal (Center), The New York Post (Lean Right), and The Times (Center). The difference is that the contributors are typically public information and these billionaires can be held accountable, whereas with DonorsTrust, the public doesn’t know what individuals may have influence over decisions at these publications.

It’s unfortunate, but we expect some degree of non-transparent funding and potential corruption in politics and activism, but these findings are alarming because in the American political system journalism serves as a check on political corruption. The media is meant to expose nefarious funders and political actions and show a clear-eyed view of activism projects, so people can decide themselves what to think. Instead, we see the very media that’s supposed to expose politicians is sharing its shadowy funders. 

AllSides rates media bias based on the content a source puts out, not its funders, though we do clearly state funding ties on many source pages as an FYI to readers. But you can see in the above list that many of the media sources share the bias of their funders, and one can wonder how those two are related, or whether or not the editorial arm of these organizations maintains a degree of independence. If an outlet were to become less biased, would it lose its funding? I can imagine that regardless of how real the threat of funding loss is, many media sources wouldn’t be willing to risk it, which makes it difficult to trust that they can report on their own side reliably. 

AllSides is transparent about its funding and ownership. AllSides is funded largely through providing services, such as media bias audits for news rooms as well as information and dialogue products. As well as AllSides readers who purchase Sustaining Memberships. AllSides is over two-thirds owned by the three co-founders, John Gable (Lean Right), Joan Blades (Left), and Scott McDonald (Center). The rest of the company is held by over 500 investors, including its WeFunder community and employees. This diversified ownership and funding structure ensures that no single viewpoint or funder can control the editorial direction of its multipartisan team.

Clare Ashcraft (Center) is the Bridging Coordinator and Media Analyst. 

Reviewed by Julie Mastrine, Director of Marketing and Media Bias Ratings (Lean Right) and Emily Allen, Social Media Editor (Left).