Follow the Influence

Cross-cutting layer · funding & financial infrastructure · reviewed Nov. 2, 2026

Follow the money—without pretending money proves control.

Political infrastructure requires resources. This page tracks documented donations, grants, funding vehicles and financial relationships that helped institutions form, grow or operate across decades.

What a money line means

A funding line means the cited record supports a donation, grant, financial transfer, funding relationship or formal financial role. It does not, by itself, prove that the donor controlled every decision of the recipient, shared every position, directed unlawful activity or even agreed with everything the recipient later did.

Follow the pathwaysUnderstand the rulesOpen the receiptsBrowse Who’s Who

Pathway 1 · 1970s onward

Seed money helps permanent institutions survive the election cycle.

Heritage and Free Congress

Heritage’s own institutional history identifies Joseph Coors, Edward Noble and Richard Mellon Scaife among the conservative donors who funded the foundation at its 1973 launch. Independent Washington Post reporting later documented Scaife’s long-running foundation support for Heritage and a broader network of conservative organizations.

Free Congress provides another documented example: archival reporting ties early support for Paul Weyrich’s Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress to direct-mail fundraising and donor backing, including Coors; later Scaife-family foundation money also supported Free Congress.

Joseph CoorsRichard Mellon ScaifeThe Heritage FoundationFree Congress / Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress

Pathway 2 · ideas, law & professional networks

Philanthropy can finance the infrastructure around ideas.

Olin → legal and academic capacity

The John M. Olin Foundation spent heavily on law-and-economics programs and conservative intellectual institutions. A particularly clear receipt comes from 1982: the Institute for Educational Affairs—backed by Olin and other foundations—provided a $15,000 grant for the Yale conference that became a springboard for the Federalist Society.

John M. Olin FoundationInstitute for Educational AffairsFederalist Society

Pathway 3 · state capacity

Grants can explicitly fund organizational capacity—not just individual policy papers.

Bradley → State Policy Network

The Bradley Foundation’s 2020 Freedom Grants program, administered through State Policy Network, explicitly sought projects that would strengthen organizations’ fundraising, communications and government-affairs capabilities and build “permanent freedom infrastructure” in states.

Lynde and Harry Bradley FoundationState Policy Network

Pathway 4 · modern networked philanthropy

Large philanthropic communities can support policy, advocacy, education and grassroots capacity at the same time.

Charles Koch → Stand Together community

Stand Together identifies Charles Koch as its founder and dates the organization to 2003. Its current careers site says the broader Stand Together community includes more than 20 independent organizations and brands, including Americans for Prosperity and the Charles Koch Foundation.

Americans for Prosperity describes itself as a national grassroots and policy-advocacy organization founded in 2004. Its publicly available 2024 Form 990 reports roughly $223.7 million in revenue, of which about $215.4 million came from contributions.

Charles KochStand TogetherAmericans for Prosperity

Pathway 5 · very large advocacy capital

A $1.6 billion transfer creates a new funding center.

Barre Seid → Marble Freedom Trust

ProPublica and The Lever documented a 2021 transaction in which businessman Barre Seid transferred ownership of Tripp Lite to Marble Freedom Trust before the company was sold. The trust received roughly $1.6 billion in proceeds. Public tax records identify Leonard Leo as trustee and chairman.

Barre SeidMarble Freedom TrustLeonard Leo

Reading political money correctly

Different legal vehicles disclose different things.

501(c)(3) charities

May conduct limited lobbying, but federal tax law prohibits intervention in campaigns for or against candidates.

501(c)(4) social-welfare groups

May lobby extensively and may conduct some candidate-related political activity so long as political campaign activity is not their primary activity.

Donor disclosure

For most exempt organizations other than private foundations and Section 527 political organizations, contributor names and addresses on annual returns are not publicly disclosed.

Citizens United

The 2010 ruling removed federal restrictions on corporate and union independent expenditures and electioneering communications. It did not legalize unlimited direct corporate contributions to candidates.

Private foundations

Private-foundation filings generally make donor and grant information more visible, which is why older foundation pathways can sometimes be reconstructed more precisely.

Absence of a donor name

It does not prove that no donor exists or that money is secret for an improper reason. Sometimes federal disclosure law simply does not require public identification.

Evidence rule

When the original source of money is unknown, this project will say unknown. A recipient’s ideology, friendship network or coalition membership is not evidence of who funded it.

Source ledger

The controlling records behind this layer.

Institutional recordHeritage — Feulner timeline

Names Joseph Coors, Edward Noble and Richard Scaife among Heritage’s founding donors.

Open source ↗
Independent reportingWashington Post — How Scaife’s Money Powered a Movement

Documents long-term foundation grants and recipients across the conservative institutional network.

Open source ↗
Donor-side historyPhilanthropy Roundtable — Birth of the Federalist Society

Documents the $15,000 Institute for Educational Affairs grant underwriting the 1982 Yale conference.

Open source ↗
Grant programState Policy Network — Bradley Freedom Grants

Describes capacity-building, policy infrastructure and grant restrictions in the 2020 program.

Open source ↗
Public filingProPublica Nonprofit Explorer — Americans for Prosperity

Publishes Form 990 financial data, including 2024 revenue and contribution totals.

Open source ↗
Investigation + filingsProPublica — Barre Seid / Marble Freedom Trust

Documents the Tripp Lite transfer and reported $1.6 billion contribution.

Open source ↗
Explore the network →Return to the historical backboneRead the evidence standard