The National Organization for Marriage’s 2010 income disclosures to the Internal Revenue Service reveal that just two people contributed more than $6 million (two-thirds of NOM’s 2010 revenue) to the organization’s political arm and that 92 percent of NOM’s 2010 money came from just 22 donations of $5000 or more. We have a sneaking suspicion that those bucks are coming primarily from Catholic and Mormon sources.
Michael
I would like to see how money is paid to the spokesmen for this organization. I am sure they are making big money spewing their hate. Where does one go to find this info
Cam
So basically people are losing their rights because of 6 or so people.
Mike in Asheville
This truly explains why NOM refuses, even after court orders, to reveal their donations lists — the backlash against this handful of bigots, exposed as the bigots they are, would probably end their continued cash-flow to Maggot and her minions. The boycotts of Doug Manchester and all that ruckus will pale in comparison exposing which corporate bigwigs are funding their fellow bigots.
Where are the gay hackers?
kylew
I almost hope that these donations ARE from churches not individuals, because I can’t imagine how much you’d have to hate gays to give away 3 million dollars to stop them marrying!
randy
For billionnaire, such as the Koch Bros, that’s pocket change.
Robert in NYC
I don’t understand why NOM with three court orders to disclose it’s funding source, ignores compliance. From what I understand, it has appealed all three. How long do these appeals last I wonder and what are the penalties if it still refuses to comply with the court orders? I’m hoping the court will overturn its non-profit status and throw Srivastav and Brown in jail for contempt of court, plus a stiff fine. I suspect the roman catholic and mormon cults are the main funders of this hate group.
chuck
When will the names of the contributors be revealed?
xander
NOM’s own blog fails to mention this news. Hardly surprising! I hope the list is exposed and they encounter a large fine.
Semi-related: in their search to remain relevant, they seem to be focusing increasingly on pro-marriage efforts countries other than the US.
bagooka
$3,416,000. That’s a pretty specific amount. It must come from an eccentric millionaire (you know, the kind who would be in an institution if they weren’t millionaires).
Scott Rose
Don’t forget that NOM’s “Ruth Institute” operates as a 501(c)3, a tax exempt organization, meaning that gay tax payers are being forced to subsidize the operations of an anti-gay hate group.
Ben Currie
What if the HRC was funded entirely by Barney Frank, how would that be relevant to anything HRC did or stood for? Also, if there is any ACTUAL evidence behind your suggestion that the money is coming primarily from Catholics and Mormons it would nice to be able to read about how you intuited the speculation. “Sneaking” suspicions are like what? just fun type guesses and other imaginary stuff? You could, you know, find out, and tell us the facts. Just a suggestion
[email protected]
So, how is it LEGAL for NOM to report that they are raking in FAR LESS money to the IRS than what they clearly seem to be making?
blatherer
1) has to be a billionaire
2) finite no. of billionaires in USA
3) narrow down to Republicans
4) affiliated with a company or brand not wanting negative publicity, hence secrecy
5) probably not donors to Ruth Institute – Amway, Knights of Columbus, etc. (already
known – why hide?)
6) most likely has ties to other right wing organizations
7) guessing not Koch brothers – too libertarian
8) Catholic or close ties to the Catholic church.
blatherer
Best guess (see above): Tom Monaghan, former owner of Domino’s Pizza, Catholic “philanthropist”, and supporter of far rightwing social causes.
tjr101
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Koch brothers are bankrolling NOM as well as the Tea Party.
randy
@bagooka: I would say that’s an indication the amount came from a single institution. For instance, if the Mormon Church held a fund raiser throughout all its churches and said that every penny of it will go towards the cause, you would have such an unrounded result.
Hunch
Oh please, the Koch brothers are far more interested in paying lawyers to lower EPA regulations and fight tax hikes then they are in civil marraige matters.
Crysta
@randy: Very good point, those two top numbers are far larger, and irregular.
Corey
@blatherer – I’m sure one of them is Orson Scott Card, a Mormon and one of the founding members. It’s too bad, because he’s a great author, but I will never buy one of his novels ever again now that I know the truth about him.
Chris
@xander: Don’t you mean anti-marriage?
Tomahawk
For financial information go to Form 990, Foundation Center at http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/990finder/
On the linked page enter National Organization for Marriage. Leave the request for both types of forms. Click FIND. The reports come up as PDF’s. They will be too small to read. Right click on the PDF page and select MARQUEE ZOOM from the drop down. You’ll get a magnifying glass. Left click until the page is readable. Or if the tool bar is visible at the bottom of the page, click on the + sing. Then go to Section VII, Compensation of …. There you’ll find that total compensation for Maggie and Brownie is less than $400,000.
Go down a little further for how they spent those millions.
eastownlewis
I would not be surprised if two of the Families that gave larger chunks of change to NOM were The Prince family (of Prince automotive, and Blackwater inc) , and the DeVos Family (of Amway). Edgar Prince cofounded the Family Research Council before his passing, and Mom Prince has given more money to both Prop 8 and other anti-equality issues than almost any other single person. Combine that with Betsy DeVos is her daughter, and both families have strong history of funding anti-lgbt organizations.
This is of course speculation, but following where their money has gone in the past, the shoe fits.
Pete n SFO
@Ben Currie: You’re kidding us, right?
The difference in HRC being funded by a couple of individuals rather than by the larger consensus that it is, would indicate a disproportionate, hubris that should never have been allowed the sway in the media & courts that it has received.
Do you think it would have swayed people’s thinking about Prop 8 if they need 1 or 2 ppl were bankrolling the whole bullshiz? Especially, a church! I do.
As for the desire for facts rather than speculation… keep up, girl; we ALL share that thought. The problem lies in the stonewalling of NOM to continue to conceal the truth.
What are you a troll?
blatherer
@eastownlewis: Excellent lead – Erik Prince, Betsy DeVos’s brother, and former owner of Blackwater, is a Catholic convert. I bring this up because it is becoming clear that NOM is a Catholic centered organization, with most of its heirarchy affiliated with that faith. It would not be surprising if the Prince/DeVos nexus was one of the major donors – but why such secrecy?
gollygeegaygoy
eastonlewis is right. It is very likely Erik Dean Prince: a billionaire, who comes from an intensely anti gay family, and seems like a kind of Howard Hughes figure in how he guards his privacy. From wikipedia about him: ‘Prince grants few interviews and is reluctant to have his photo taken publicly because he is frequently targeted for death threats by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.’And ‘In 2008, Prince spoke at the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, where his sister Betsy DeVos was on the organization’s board. Prince had also banned all video and still cameras from the event.’
Brian M
The motivation behind such secrecy is simple. If ordinary Americans were to discover that NOM is not a “grassroots organization,” but rather a subsidiary of a couple of wealthy donors and a few religious denominations, it would lose its claim to be a “lobby group” and its access to the media.
NOM operates, falsely, as a group that represents a broad-based faction in the so-called “culture wars.” If it becomes clear that its base is extremely narrow and parochial, then it loses its legitimacy as an actual lobby group (and most of its media access). Hence the secrecy.
It’s an effort to actively promote fraud… namely, that NOM is a “broad-based group” when it isn’t.
bagooka
@Brian M: Not to worry, bucky. I’m pretty sure the average American doesn’t know NOM exists.
13Zeroither
i won’t be surprised if NOM is funded by the Bushes, a couple of politians, the KKK, neo-nazis, Cathlic Church, Jewish Temples, Mormon whatevers, hundreds and hundreds of many churches across the mainland, and CEO people. (I imagine that whether or not they all like or dislike each other [like the KKK], they all hate the LGBT Community)
CBRad
@13Zeroither: Don’t you wish, Mr. Fantasy.