DonorsTrust

DonorsTrust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund that was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor-advised fund, DonorsTrust is not legally required to disclose the identity of its donors, and most of its donors remain anonymous. It distributes funds to various conservative and libertarian 501(c)(3) organizations.

It is affiliated with Donors Capital Fund, another donor-advised fund. In September 2015, Lawson Bader was announced as the new president of both DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund. Bader was formerly president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and vice president at the Mercatus Center.

DonorsTrust is a 501(c)(3) organization. As a public charity and a donor-advised fund, DonorsTrust offers clients a variety of tax advantages compared to a private foundation.

DonorsTrust accepts donations from charitable foundations and individuals. Grants from DonorsTrust are based on the preferences of the original contributor, and the organization assures clients that their contributions will never be used to support politically liberal causes. As a donor-advised fund, DonorsTrust can offer anonymity to individual donors, with respect to their donations to DonorsTrust, as well as with respect to an individual donor's ultimate grantee.

As a donor-advised fund and public charity, DonorsTrust accepts cash or assets from donors, and in turn creates a separate account for the donor, who may recommend disbursements from the fund to other public charities. DonorsTrust requires an initial deposit of $10,000 or more. DonorsTrust is associated with Donors Capital Fund. DonorsTrust refers clients to Donors Capital Fund if the client plans to maintain a balance of $1 million or more. DonorsTrust president Lawson Bader said the goal of the organization is to "safeguard the intent of libertarian and conservative donors," ensuring that funds are used only to promote "liberty through limited government, responsibility, and free enterprise".

DonorsTrust was established in 1999 by Whitney Lynn Ball. It and Donors Capital Fund have been described as spinoffs of the Philanthropy Roundtable, a coordinating group for conservative foundations, where Ball had been executive director. According to DonorsTrust, the organization was founded by a group of donors and nonprofit executives who were "actively engaged in supporting and promoting a free society as understood in America's founding documents." A major selling point to donors is that even after their death, their money will continue to fund conservative/libertarian goals, and not change based on the attitudes of their heirs or trustees as a family foundation might.

In early 2013, DonorsTrust was the subject of reports by The Independent, The Guardian, Mother Jones, and the Center for Public Integrity. Calling it the "dark money ATM" of the political right, the progressive magazine Mother Jones said DonorsTrust had funded a conservative public policy agenda against labor unions, climate science, public schools, and economic regulations.

DonorsTrust raised over $1 billion in 2021, with two separate donations, each exceeding $425 million, being anonymous.