More than Kochs, Small Donors Fueled Heritage Action in 2012

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From OpenSecrets:

Heritage Action for America, the conservative social welfare organization that was a main proponent of the push to defund the Affordable Care Act that led to the recent government shutdown, raised $5.9 million in 2012, much of it from donors giving less than $5,000.

The 501(c)(4) group — the political arm of the Heritage Foundation think tank — logged just 11 contributions of $100,000 or more, according to a tax filing obtained by the OpenSecrets Blog. About 44 percent of Heritage Action’s overall contributions came from individuals or entities giving less than $5,000.

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The attention that Heritage Action got during the shutdown often touched on the group’s possible donors. But — if the group’s pattern in 2012 has continued in 2013 — it has a large donor base compared to other notable nonprofits active in politics. For example, American Action Network’s latest 990, filed last May, showed the group raising far more money from just 45 donors. AAN’s largest donation, $10.3 million, was nearly twice as much as Heritage Action’s entire 2012 revenues.

FreedomWorks, the other prominent social welfare organization leading the charge to defund Obamacare, received nearly 60 percent of its $15 million in revenues from just four donors in 2012. According to a recent filing also obtained by the OpenSecrets Blog, these donors gave between $1 million and $5 million each. Together, contributions of $5,000 or more made up more than 75 percent of the FreedomWork’s total revenues in 2012.

Heritage Action’s small-donor support makes the $500,000 Freedom Partners-Koch Brothers donation stand out all the more. And that’s not the first time a Koch-linked organization has given money to Heritage Action. A 501(c)(4) organization called Free Enterprise America gave more than $270,000 to Heritage Action in 2011. The now-defunct group was headed by Sean Noble, best known for running other Koch-linked groups like the massive Center to Protect Patient Rights.

Heritage Action’s 990 indicating its 2013 revenues and expenditures isn’t due at the IRS until roughly a year from now, under agency rules that allow 501(c)(4) groups to file such reports as late as 11 months after the end of their fiscal years.

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