September/October 2010 Issue

Fat Cats United: 10 Biggest 527 Groups

How much money has the College Republican National Committee raised so far this year? How about the SEIU?

<a href="http://www.crnc.org/site/c.npIUKWOrFkG/b.5771869/k.BFBE/Home.htm">College Republican National Committee</a>

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Read also: The rest of this special report, a note on sourcing, and MoJo‘s daily political coverage.

527 groups, which can collect unlimited donations, raised $506 million in 2008. They’ve already raised $236 million for this fall’s election—and it’s not even a presidential year. Here are the 10 biggest:

527 COMMITTEE / POLITICAL LEANING

TOTAL RAISED

TOP DONOR / AMOUNT

American Solutions for Winning the Future
Conservative/Republican

$17.2 million

Crow Holdings
$350,000

Service Employees International Union
Liberal/Democratic

$6.4 million

SEIU
$6.4 million

America Votes
Liberal/Democratic

$6.4 million

Friends of America Votes
$2.4 million

Citizens United
Conservative/Republican

$5.8 million

Self-employed donors
$61,320

College Republican National Committee
Conservative/Republican

$4.5 million

John Templeton Foundation
$450,100

EMILY’s List
Liberal/Democratic

$4 million

Akonadi Foundation/Newsweb
$250,000 each

Carly for California
Conservative/Republican

$3.6 million

Carly Fiorina Enterprises
$2.5 million

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Liberal/Democratic

$2.7 million

IBEW
$1.2 million

ActBlue
Liberal/Democratic

$2.5 million

JPMorgan Chase
$39,848

Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund
Liberal/Democratic

$2.4 million

Democratic Governors Association
$1.45 million

As of July 9. Top donors list does not include retired donors.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate