Charitable nonprofits funnel tax-deductible funds into Democratic-leaning voter registration efforts
A new report says several left-leaning 501(c)(3) charities directed most of their spending to affiliated 501(c)(4) groups that focused voter registration on demographics likely to support Democrats.
According to a Capital Research Center report, a cluster of left-leaning 501(c)(3) charities acted as financial conduits for affiliated 501(c)(4) groups that can engage in partisan politics. America Votes Education Fund, Guarantee Our Votes Project and Democracy Matters Foundation each routed the bulk of their 2024 budgets—$20,748,002, $13,919,873 and $31.38 million respectively—to their 501(c)(4) partners, while reporting negligible office or fundraising expenses and no staff.
These 501(c)(4) entities concentrated voter-registration spending on populations that tend to vote Democratic, accounting for $638 million in the election cycle, a rise from $491.5 million in 2020. The report highlights overlapping board members who hold leadership roles in both the charitable and political arms. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the department is examining whether such arrangements cross legal lines. The charities did not respond to inquiries.
Why it matters
It reveals how tax-deductible donations may be used to support partisan election work, raising questions about nonprofit tax rules.
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