kimberly dennis

Kimberly Dennis’ Political Donations

• $250 to Kenneth T Cuccinelli II Campaign Committee (R) on 8/30/2013

• George Allen (R)

  • $250 on 7/17/2006

  • $250 on 4/26/2006

  • LCV Lifetime Environmental Score: 4%

  • LCV Environmental Score in 2006: 0%

Institute for Justice (non-profit, libertarian law firm)

• DonorsTrust has provided financial support to the Institute for Justice. According to an article written by the Center for Public Integrity in 2017, DonorsTrust has donated to the Institute for Justice every year since 2004, providing the firm with over $1.6M. 

• The Institute has also received funding from the Koch organization over the years, reportedly receiving $9,600 in 2014 and 2015. Additionally, the David H. Koch Foundation gave the Institute $250,000 in 2001.

Kimberly Dennis’ Memberships:

• Kimberly Dennis is a member of Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), which is a Koch-funded climate denial front group that “touts the potential economic benefits to American farmers as a reason not to act against climate change. 

• Dennis is a National Council member of the American Enterprise Institute and a Director Emeritus at Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), both of which are recognized climate denial front groups for Koch Industries. 

  • IWF is funded by foundations including the Koch Brothers’ Claude R. Lambe Foundation. Between 1998-2014, the Forum accepted $844,115 from the Koch Family foundations, and roughly half of IWF’s full-time staff used to work for Koch-groups or Koch-funded groups. 

  • DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund donated over $5M to IWF from 2002-2014
    

Searle Freedom Trust’s Ties:

• Searle Freedom Trust receives funds from many right-winged think tanks and policy institutes, including:

  • Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a Koch-founded organization that has consistently opposed government regulation on oil & gas. 

    • In regards to legislative attempts at making a binding climate treaty, AFP stated that “so far every attempt has failed, in large part because the American public is just not convinced..”

  • American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a not-for-profit research institute with members that question the science behind man-made climate change.

    •  In 2001, AEI published a piece titled “The Kyoto Treaty Deserved to Die.”

  • American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that has worked with corporations like ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and Peabody Energy.  

    • Between 2006-2018, Searle Freedom Trust donated $2,234,500. The Center for Media and Democracy described ALEC as “not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that.”

    • ALEC has described climate change as a “historical phenomenon” and that “the debate will continue on the significance of natural and anthropogenic contributions.”

  • Heartland Institute, a think tank that is “at the forefront of denying the scientific evidence for man-made climate change.” The organization has received $676,500 from ExxonMobil between 1998-2007.

  • State Policy Network, a think tank that has supported numerous climate change skepticism organizations like the Cato Institute, Heartland Institute, and Heritage Foundation.  
    

Searle Freedom Trust Grants Distributed in 2022:

• Searle Freedom Trust donated $3,636,000 to DonorsTrust & Donors Capital Fund between 2009 & 2013 

• American Enterprise Institute: $1,000,000

• Cato Institute: $600,000

• Heritage Foundation: $750,000.

  • The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank that has publicly opposed the Kyoto Protocol and created Project 2025. The Foundation has numerous members who are avid climate change skeptics, including Fred Singer and Patrick Michaels. 

• Heartland Institute: $81,000

• State Policy Network: $1,320,000 
  

DonorsTrust Funding and Donations:

• DonorsTrust received $9M from the Knowledge and Progress Fund, a Charles Koch-run organization

• Donated $107,500 to Frontiers of Freedom

  • In the organization’s mission statement, they described themselves as “the antithesis to the Sierra Club and Vice President Al Gore’s Earth in the Balance.”

  • The organization used to have a list of “Global Warming Papers”, which included articles written by numerous climate change skeptics.”

• Donated $9.5M to Americans for Prosperity, a Koch Brothers founded organization

• 2021 Donations through its Growth and Resilience Project

  • Competitive Enterprise Institute: $50,000

  • Texas Public Policy Foundation: $50,000

  • Reason Foundation: $50,000

  • Tax Foundation: $50,000

Searle Freedom Trust Donations to Industry Associations:

• $2,234,500 the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) from 2006-2018

• $3,636,000 to DonorsTrust and its Donors Capital Fund from 2009-2013

• $100,000 to State Financial Officers Foundation

DonorsTrust Ties:

• DonorsTrust has financed grants to ALEC and the State Policy Network, 

• DonorsTrust donated roughly $9.5M to Americans for Prosperity, a Koch-founded organization, from 2010-2012.

Kimberly Dennis’ Positions:

• Board member of Arthur N. Rupe Foundation 

• Board member of Earthart Foundation

• Board member of W.H. Brady Foundation

• Staffer for John M. Olin Foundation (closed in 2005)

  • Over the years John M. Olin Foundation donated over $9M each to the American Enterprise Institute and to the Heritage Foundation

  • The John Orlin Foundation was one of the first nonprofits to donate significant money to conservative groups and was one of the first funders of the Federalist Society.

Searle Freedom Trust Grants Distributed in 2022:

• Federalist Society – $980,500

DonorsTrust Donations:

• The Knowledge and Progress Fund, a Koch-run organization, donated roughly $9M from 2005-2012

DonorsTrust has received donations of at least $1M from:

• The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation

• Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation

• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

• John M. Olin Foundation

Clemson University:

• Kim Dennis is a director at the Clemson University Foundation.  

Searle Freedom Trust Grants Distributed in 2022:

• Clemson University: $500,000

• George Mason University Foundation: $1,600,000

• Georgetown University Center for the Constitution: $310,000

• George Washington University: $200,000

• Prager University Foundation: $150,000

• UC Berkley: $130,00

DonorsTrust Donations in 2021:

• DonorsTrust donated $30,000 to George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, a Koch Industries-funded organization. Since 1998, the Center has received at least $330,000 from ExxonMobil. In regards to climate change, the Center argues that science on global warming and human involvement is mixed and that “as forecasts of anthropogenic warming get more refined, they predict less extreme warming.”

Statistical Assessment Services (STATS):

• DonorsTrust and Searle Freedom have funded Statistical Assessment Services (STATS). The majority of STATS’ funding comes from climate denialism groups and has been described as a “major player in the public relations campaign to discredit concerns."