A nonprofit funded by big Republican donor Peter Thiel appears to have donated $3 million to an organization that funds some left-leaning groups and is allied with progressives. element Representatives of the Democrats, according to tax documents first reviewed by CNBC.
The Thiel Foundation, founded and funded entirely by the tech investor under 501(c)(3) regulations, donated the funds to New Venture Fund in 2021. 990 tax forms.
The New Venture Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) group, has been a major funder of several Democratic-aligned groups for years. It is also known as a so-called “dark money” organization because it does not publicly disclose the names of its donors. New Venture Fund raised more than $950 million in 2021, according to the group’s records.
The listed donation to the new venture fund coincides with Thiel’s efforts to help Republican candidates during the 2022 midterm elections. Throughout the two-year election cycle, he has donated more than $35 million to Republican causes, according to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. Thiel has since said he does not plan to provide financial support to individual Republican candidates running for office during the 2024 election.
Anna Massoglia of OpenSecrets, who reviewed the documents, said the donation Thiel listed for the new venture fund could have been earmarked for a less partisan organization funded by the fund.
Massoria raises another scenario: The Thiel Foundation’s accountant may have filled out the form incorrectly.
“While some grantees of the new venture fund are left-leaning, others have no overt ideological leanings,” Masolia, OpenSecrets’ editor and investigations manager, said in an email. “Some nonprofits also use The new venture fund serves as a vehicle for funding other groups, so it’s not out of the question that the Thiel Foundation could fund specific groups through it.”
“I also leave open the possibility that an accountant or a lawyer filling out the tax form could also be looking up the wrong organization,” Masolia said.
New York Times report Through 2022, Thiel is one of a group of donors working to counter the advantage Democrats have in the fight against “dark money.” Thiel’s net worth is estimated at more than $9 billion.
open secret report These organizations spent and donated more than $295 million during the 2022 midterm elections. One Nation, a 501(c)(4) organization aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has committed more than $120 million to the 2022 midterm elections.
The Thiel Foundation’s listed $3 million gift to the New Venture Fund is its second-largest contribution in 2021. The largest donation, more than $4 million, was to the Donors Trust, a 501(c)(3) donor-advised fund where donors send money to nonprofits, which then funnel donations to The group they choose. Donor trusts often serve as major funders for conservative-leaning nonprofits.The company raised more than $1 billion in 2021, according to tax data document.
“You don’t typically see grants from donor trust funds and new venture funds on the same 990,” Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of the regulator Documented, told CNBC after reviewing tax returns. “Based on the address, it does appear that the recipient of the Thiel Foundation’s $3 million grant is the same new venture fund supporting progressive causes.”
The address for new venture fund donations on the Thiel Foundation forms is listed as 21828 L Street NW Suite 300-A Washington DC, 20036. The new venture fund’s 2021 tax form lists a similar address, 1828 L Street NW Suite 300-A Washington DC, 20036.Google Maps did not find any results for 21828 L Street NW, Washington DC
Tax records from 2013 show that the Thiel Foundation made no contributions to the new venture fund until 2021. The records did not say what the donations to the new venture fund were for. Spokespeople for Thiel and the foundation did not respond to requests for comment. The accountant listed on the Thiel Foundation form did not respond to a request for comment.
Representatives for the new venture fund did not respond to a request for comment.
In the same year Thiel contributed, the new venture fund donated more than $7 million to America Votes, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit voting rights organization focused on educating people how to vote by mail, according to other tax records. . A nonprofit funded by billionaire and Democratic mega-donor George Soros donated more than $16 million to Vote America during the same period.
The new venture fund is part of a network of left-leaning nonprofits under the direction of philanthropic advisory firm Arabella Advisors. In 2021, the New Venture Fund paid the company nearly $30 million for administrative, operating and management services, according to the nonprofit’s tax forms.
Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization with nearly the same address as the new venture fund, paid Arabella Advisors $5 million in 2021 for its services, according to other tax data. Record. Sixteen Thirty received just over $27 million in funding that year from new venture funds, records show. For the record, the group raised more than $180 million in 2021.
Like the New Venture Fund and the Donor Trust, Sixteen Thirty does not publicly disclose its donors.