The Conru Foundation is a grantmaking nonprofit that gives between five and six-figure annual donations to left-leaning policy groups such as the Drug Policy Alliance, right-leaning policy groups such as Turning Point USA, and the libertarian Reason Foundation. 1
Background
The Conru Foundation was founded in 2017 by Andrew Conru, a mechanical engineer who founded Friend Finder Network and a dozen other firms. 2
Financials
The Conru Foundation’s tax filings from 2021 show total revenues of $2,869,526 and total expenses of $2,073,686. It made $1,782,875 in gifts and grants. 1
Grantmaking
Right-Leaning Grants
From 2019 through 2020, the Conru Foundation gave total donations of $60,000 to the American Enterprise Institute. Between 2019 and 2021, the Conru Foundation gave total donations of $150,000 to Turning Point USA and $35,000 to Media Research Center. 1
Left-Leaning Policy Grants
From 2019 to 2021, the Conru Foundation gave total donations of $35,000 to the Drug Policy Alliance. Between 2020 and 2021, the foundation gave donations of $50,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. 1
Libertarian Grants
From 2019 through 2021, the Conru Foundation gave total donations of $50,000 to the Reason Foundation. 1
Population Control Grants
In 2020 and 2021, the foundation gave donations to advocacy group linked to the population control movement. 3 They made donations of $100,000 to the environmentalist group Post Carbon Institute and $50,000 to the immigration-restriction group Center for Immigration Studies. 1
References
- Suozzo, Andrea, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, and Brandon Roberts. 2013. “Conru Foundation.” ProPublica. May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/821387085/202213149349100826/full.
- “Conru Foundation.” n.d. Conru.com. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://conru.com/.
- “Limits to Growth.” 2017. Post Carbon Institute. September 18, 2017. https://www.postcarbon.org/issue/limits/.