Any re-election campaign is bound to be a referendum on the sitting president, but 2020 was uniquely all about then-President Donald Trump. The leading political nonprofits of the cycle reflect this: The organizations that raised and spent the most money were focused primarily on ousting Trump and courting voters of any ideology who would vote him out. Even more issue-based organizations put aside their political goals and put their money toward directly opposing Republicans.
Since 501(c)(4) groups are not required to disclose their donors, we don’t know all that much about who funded the nonprofits active this election cycle. Still, few progressives have been complaining lately about the growing flood of dark money into elections now that Democrats have gained an edge in raising and deploying this kind of cash. That was especially true in the 2020 cycle, when a desire to rebuke conservatives—from Trump to various senators to Justice Amy Coney Barret—motivated record political spending.
Here’s a look at some of the top political nonprofits from the 2020 election cycle. All figures come from OpenSecrets.org.
The group emerged as one of the leading dark money groups in 2018 and continued to facilitate a large chunk of liberal election spending in 2020. Politico reported that more than half of the group’s $137 million raised in 2019 came from just three anonymous donations—we won’t know the full extent of its 2020 activity until the group files its taxes for the year, likely in late 2021. Sixteen Thirty made $56 million in contributions from unknown donors this cycle, funneling money to key liberal Super PACs and organizations like Future Forward USA, LCV Victory Fund and Change Now PAC.
Although it flew under the radar in 2020, America Votes has long been identified by campaign finance researchers as one of the leading dark money groups for liberals. While most of the press coverage focused on Sixteen Thirty Fund this cycle, the group moved $56 million of its own in contributions to Super PACs, chief among them Family Friendly Action PAC ($14.7 million), which supported half a dozen or so Democratic Senate candidates. America Votes also gave $10 million to Black PAC and $8.4 million to For Our Future.
The dark money affiliate of the liberal powerhouse Super PAC Senate Majority PAC, Majority Forward moved $51 million in unsourced money to its counterpart—comprising just under a quarter of SMP’s 2020 cycle total. The nonprofit group did spend money on some ads in a handful of congressional races, but its other major highlight was funding the recently formed Super PAC North Star with $7.1 million to help the group oppose Republican Alaska Sen. Daniel Sullivan—to no avail; Sullivan won.
In an election that at times felt like there was only one candidate—and you were either with him or against him—it’s only fitting that one of the top spending political nonprofits of this cycle was made up of anti-Trump conservatives. Defending Democracy Together spent more than $10 million on web ads specifically targeting Republicans tired of Trump.
Big Tent Project
Big Tent Project had one goal this election cycle and achieved it: get Sen. Bernie Sanders out of the race. Headed by Jonathan Kott, former staffer of Sen. Joe Manchin, and other centrist Democrats, Big Tent spent nearly all of its money on digital ads attacking Sanders, targeting early primary states in an effort to head off the campaign’s momentum. Sanders would drop out in April.
Black Progressive Action Coalition
Focused on voter turnout in African-American communities, Black Progressive Action Coalition continued its work of getting people to the polls this election. The group’s fundraising arm, BlackPAC, spent nearly $30 million supporting Biden and about a dozen congressional races in the South. The Coalition does reveal its donors, with the largest gifts coming from Michael Bloomberg and America Votes.
This org popped up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to provide accurate updates on case counts and pressure lawmakers to enforce smart containment policies. Take Back spent around $1.5 million on ads and campaign activity opposing Donald Trump
A North Carolina-based group, Piedmont Rising focuses on advancing healthcare access for residents of the state. The org spent most of its money opposing North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who still won a tight race against Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham.
The group’s primary goal is getting veterans elected to office, but it’s actually been one of the left’s top election spenders in past cycles. A 501(c)(4) group, VoteVets Action Fund does not disclose its donors, but reported spending $1.7 million on broadcast ads to support Democrats and oppose Republicans in a handful of congressional races—including more than $1 million spent in opposition to Arizona Sen. Martha McSally, who lost her race. Its affiliated hybrid Super PAC spent just under $26 million on independent expenditures, most of it on broadcast ads.
Co-founded by Brian Fallon, former national press secretary for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, Demand Justice is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund and was launched to resist Trump’s judicial nominees and push the American courts in a progressive direction. In late September, Demand Justice ran ads against then-nominee to the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barret in a few key battleground states—some of which did flip blue, but the pressure wasn’t enough to stop Barret’s confirmation.
BYP 100 is one of the more active political groups born in the early days of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and when the protest against police killings this summer surfaced demands to defund and abolish the police, the group highlighted solutions to police violence that leaders have wanted for years. According to records, BYP 100 used around $1.9 million in unspecified media to oppose Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
This climate-focused nonprofit divided its money evenly this cycle on campaign expenses for Joe Biden and North Carolina Senate challenger Cal Cunningham. The group started as a project of well-known climate science advocate Vice President Al Gore, and early in 2020, launched a voter registration and turnout campaign.
Following the nomination of Amy Coney Barret for the Supreme Court, this pro-choice group jumped into action, spending on get-out-the-vote efforts in key battleground states and running ads against a handful of Republican Senators, pressuring residents of their states to vote against the pro-Barret lawmakers.
