Trump-Aligned Groups Get Big Boost From ‘Dark Money’ Behemoth

Two nonprofits closely aligned with President Donald Trump received a multimillion-dollar boost in funding from a secretive “dark money” nonprofit group, according to new tax documents obtained by NOTUS.

DonorsTrust gave America First Legal Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, nearly $21.3 million in 2024, up from $3.2 million in 2023, according to the tax documents, known as an IRS Form 990.

America First Policy Institute, founded by now-Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, got more than $4.4 million last year — exponentially more than the $159,200 DonorsTrust gave the group in 2023, the tax documents indicate.

Overall, DonorsTrust is booming, disclosing nearly $1.4 billion in “net assets or fund balances” at the end of 2024, up from $1.3 billion at the end of 2023.

In all, DonorsTrust gave out $284.1 million in grants in 2024, its second-biggest year since its founding in 1999.

DonorsTrust gave out a record $351.2 million in 2023.

In addition to the Trump-aligned nonprofits, DonorsTrust beneficiaries in 2024 included hundreds of other groups and entities, including major universities, media organizations, conservative think tanks and social issue organizations focused on matters ranging from Israel to immigration to gender.

“DonorsTrust has active accountholders who would prefer money gets into the hands of operating charities sooner than later, but on the other hand, they can put money in, then take their time to decide strategically how to engage their giving. That is actually one of the key selling points of having a donor-advised fund in the first place,” DonorsTrust President and CEO Lawson Bader told NOTUS.

Of the $21.3 million America First Legal Foundation received through DonorsTrust last year, $20.7 million went toward “general operations,” per its tax return. Another $100,000 went “to stop election interference,” $100,000 went “towards the matching challenge to address election integrity,” $101,000 was “for election monitoring activities” and $250,000 was “for a legal defense fund.”

America First Policy Institute got more than $2 million “for general operations,” more than $1 million “for Election Integrity Project,” $1.4 million “for Veterans Initiative” and $10,000 “for the elections integrity project,” according to its tax return.

America First Legal and the America First Policy Institute did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They also have not yet responded to NOTUS’ request for their own tax documents.

Donor-advised funds such as DonorsTrust are popular among some wealthy donors because it allows them to receive an immediate tax deduction after making a donation, while also retaining the right to anonymously recommend which nonprofit groups ultimately receive a portion of their money.

Brendan Fischer, director of strategic investigations at the Campaign Legal Center, said the uptick in DonorsTrust’s contributions to the two America First nonprofits is significant because individuals who worked for both organizations — and benefitted from the DonorsTrust funds in that capacity — now serve in senior roles within the Trump administration.

Michael Beckel, senior research director at the nonprofit Issue One, told NOTUS that this kind of giving “is one way that wealthy donors and special interests can curry favor with the Trump administration and help advance the president’s policy agenda without being in the spotlight.”

Beckel said that since nonprofits such as America First Legal and America First Policy Institute are not legally required to disclose their donors, voters are left in the dark about who exactly may be using these donations to try to influence or access people close to the president.

Fischer was struck by the earmarks for “election integrity” related activities and predicted that soon-to-be-related tax documents from other conservative nonprofits would reveal “a lot of money poured into the election-denial movement and into advancing conspiracy theories about elections and efforts to undermine the freedom to vote.”

Although federal law doesn’t compel DonorsTrust to name individual donors, its tax return is required to list — anonymously — the dollar amounts of its largest donations. During 2024, eight unnamed individuals made either eight- or seven-figure contributions totaling $162.4 million.

Overall, it raised $232.1 million from grants and contributions last year.

Bader, DonorsTrust’s president and CEO, said that the money coming in during 2024 does not directly correlate with the money the group spent last year.

“Many grants were made in 2024 from accounts that did not necessarily have any contributions INTO them during 2024. That, of course, would be true of any donor-advised fund provider, not unique to DonorsTrust,” Bader wrote in an email to NOTUS.

Bader told NOTUS that the donor-advised fund has “multiple hundreds of active accountholders,” and that while “the vast majority of our grants are made with some disclosure,” donor-advised fund providers offer donors the opportunity to withhold their identities from the grantee.

“I view donor-privacy as a very important part of philanthropic freedom — for everybody, regardless of ideological persuasion or the dollar amount,” Bader added.

The Trump-aligned nonprofits received just a handful of the 4,500 grants Bader told NOTUS DonorsTrust awarded last year.

Not every recipient is as politically charged as America First Legal and the America First Policy Foundation.

DonorsTrust directed millions of dollars to more traditional charities last year, including $35 million for the MedStar Orthopaedic Institute at the Georgetown University Hospital and $60,000 to The Salvation Army. Numerous religious organizations together received millions of dollars.

Media organizations also received millions through DonorsTrust, including $4.4 million to the RealClearFoundation, more than $1.8 million to The Daily Caller News Foundation, $850,000 to the Franklin News Foundation, $250,000 to The Dallas Express and $26,000 to The Epoch Times Association.

Several major think tanks also received grants through DonorsTrust last year.

The American Enterprise Institute, for example, received six grants totaling more than $1.9 million. The Cato Institute got two grants worth a combined $1.3 million. The Heritage Foundation, which spearheaded Project 2025, a policy blueprint for Trump’s second term in office, netted nearly $735,000, including $365,000 “for the Going On Offense On Gender Ideology” project.

“Last year was a record year for both fundraising and activity — underscoring the enthusiasm and confidence our members and supporters have in our team,” a Heritage Foundation spokesperson told NOTUS via email. “We continuously welcomed new staff and donors because we’re putting real wins on the board for the conservative movement and the American people.”

There were also a number of donations to higher education institutions, including $5 million to the Texas A&M Foundation, more than $500,000 to Florida Southern College, more than $280,000 to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, $200,000 to Harvard Business School, $154,500 for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, $50,000 to the University of Notre Dame, $70,000 to Montana State University and $60,000 to Georgetown University.

Other recipients of DonorsTrust grants play a key role in shaping conservative and libertarian discourse, including the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List Education Fund ($2 million); the courts- and law-focused Federalist Society ($1.1 million) and Turning Point USA, the conservative advocacy group founded by the late Charlie Kirk ($932,600).

The far-right VDARE Foundation, whose founder was accused in September of misusing more than $2 million in assets, got $20,000 through DonorsTrust last year, according to the DonorsTrust tax return.

Two other “dark money” giants linked to conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo — The 85 Fund and the Teneo Network — also received more than $2.1 million and $4.4 million through DonorsTrust, respectively.

For Beckel, the lack of transparency into the source of those funds — and why donors may steer their money toward a specific group — is cause for concern.

“Money given through donor-advised funds like DonorsTrust helps shape the policy and political landscape, but voters will never know who’s bankrolling these causes or what pet policy issues they are pushing,” Beckel said.