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:

• Trust for Public Land is an environmental nonprofit that acquires private land near urban areas for preservation as well as advocating in favor of ballot measures towards conservationist policies. During the 2024 election cycle, individuals affiliated with the organization donated over $300,000 towards the campaigns of Democratic candidates as well as the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The group has also received funding from left-of-center foundations including the MacArthur Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Wyss Foundation.
• WattTime is a climate activist group founded by UC Berkely researches that developed “Automated Emissions Reduction” technology to track emissions output from power grids based on energy sources. Partner groups have included Google, Microsoft, Boston University, and the Rocky Mountain Institute. Listed funders include former Vice President Al Gore(D), LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Meta, and Amazon.
• Land Trust Alliance is an advocacy group that protects land trusts while promoting increased land conservation efforts. The organization has distributed over $40 million in grants between its founding in 1982 towards land trusts and state conservation programs. In 2024, over $6 million out of its $19 million in total revenue reported came from government funding such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• Western Futures Fund is a nonprofit group which as funded environmentalist organizations within the northwestern United States as well as the state of Alaska. In 2024, it made grants to several groups including Retire Career Politicians, the 907 Initiative, and the Montana state branch of the AFL-CIO. In 2023, the group donated to other groups including Alaskans for Better Elections, Alaska AFL-CIO, the Western Organization of Resource Councils, and the Kansas Values Institute.
• Global Greengrants Fund is a grantmaking organization that has provided funding to national and international left-of-center environmentalist groups. The group was initially founded in 1993 by Chet Tchozewski, a climate activist and the former Southwest regional director for Greenpeace. It has previously received funding from organizations such as the Arcus Foundation, the NoVo Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Tides Foundation.