InfluenceWatch Friday

InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers’ funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.

The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interested parties research to use in reporting on significant topics that are often overlooked by the American public.

CRC is pleased to present some of the most significant additions to InfluenceWatch in the past week:

• Fossil Foundation is a private foundation affiliated with Fossil Group, a watch and fashion-accessories company headquartered in Richardson, Texas. In 2021, Fossil Foundation chief sustainability and diversity officer Janiece Evans-Page left the organization to become CEO of the Tides Foundation. The Fossil Foundation was listed as a funder of Echoing Green’s Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund, whose donors also include MacKenzie Scott, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and BlackRock.
• Florida Wildlife Federation is a left-of-center environmentalist organization and a state affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. It has cooperated with other organizations involved in environmental litigation, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, and Earthjustice. The Florida Wildlife Federation has received funding from other groups such as the Spurlino Foundation, the Stanley & Mildred Zamo Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
• Trinity Forum is a faith-based organization that promotes Christian ideas. It has been criticized for its affiliation with New Pluralists, a network of philanthropists working to reduce social tension, which is fiscally sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and whose donors include some left-of-center sources such as MacKenzie Scott. In addition to New Pluralists, Trinity Forum has also received funding from the J. Murdock Charitable Trust, the John Templeton Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
• National Constitution Center is a nonprofit museum located in Philadelphia, which is focused on educating Americans about the U.S. Constitution. It has received funding from the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, the Lilly Endowment, and the Douglas and Maria DeVos Foundation. Additional funders have included the California Community Foundation, the Center for Education Reform, and the Charles Koch Institute.
• One Generation Away is a right-of-center organization that supports policies it claims help support a “free America.” The group uses educational materials to teach students about historical documents such as the U.S. Constitution and Federalist Papers. It also operates an online news site, Liberty Nation, which publishes “unabashedly conservative” content. One Generation Away has received funding from the Randolph Foundation and Donors Trust.