Constituting America

Constituting America is a nonpartisan advocacy organization that seeks to educate the American public about the U.S. Constitution, especially regarding individual rights and liberties. Constituting America encourages civic engagement through its Constitution-based educational programs in schools, promotion of student-created works about the Constitution, and continuing education for adults through its annual 90-day essay forum. 1

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Website: www.constitutingamerica.org
Location:

Colleyville, TX

Formation:

2010

Co-President:

Janine Gauntt

Tax ID: 27-2083548
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $508,469 Revenue: $1,673,160 Expenses: $1,432,003

Contents

    Activities

    Constituting America aims to teach the Constitution to encourage civic engagement among youth. Constituting America, along with Terry Cherry, the former president of the National Council for the Social Studies, provides free in-person and virtual presentations to schools nationwide, with current speeches focused on the relevancy of the Constitution and engaging in civil conversations about civics. 1

    Constituting America sponsors its annual “We the Future” contest for students of all ages and awards the best U.S. Constitution-focused original works with scholarships and educational trips. Past winners have produced songs, poems, essays, speeches, public service announcements, and short films, which Constituting America promotes nationally via television, radio, magazines, and social media. 2

    Constituting America supports adult education through its annual 90-day forum, which presents 90 essays written by constitutional scholars, historians, and elected officials based on that year’s theme. The forum’s first years included in-depth studies on the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the Amendments. More recent years have included essays related to presidential elections, executive branch overreach, current challenges facing the Constitution, and the Supreme Court. 2

    Funding

    Constituting America is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While Constituting America discloses some of its individual donors on its website, tax filings confirm donations from organizations like Donors Trust ($75,000 in 2018), 3 the Community Foundation of North Texas ($30,000 in 2019), 4 and the Deramus Foundation ($25,100 in 2019). 5

    People

    Leadership

    Janine Turner is an actress and the founder and co-president of Constituting America. Turner was an appointee to former President George W. Bush’s Council for Service and Civic Participation and a speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2012. 6

    Cathy Gillespie is the co-president of Constituting America and the former director of George W. Bush’s W Stands for Women effort. Gillespie is the wife of Ed Gillespie, a Virginia Republican politician and former chair of the Republican National Committee. 7

    Governing Board

    Juliette Turner is the daughter of founder Janine Turner. Turner formerly worked as the executive director and national youth director at Constituting America, and is the co-creator of the Constitutional Minute. 8

    Jay McConville formerly served as chair of the Fairfax County Republican Committee. 9

    In addition to its Governing Board, Constituting America maintains a Leadership Board, a Youth Advisory Board, a National Advisory Board, a State Advisory Board, an Education Advisory Board, and a College Advisory Board. 10

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $508,469 $1,673,160 $1,432,003 View
    2023 $228,031 $1,065,268 $1,228,084 View
    2022 $354,234 $1,044,538 $862,733 View
    2021 $169,247 $702,215 $636,047 View
    2020 $104,823 $570,448 $554,387 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 7

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Janine GaunttFOUNDER$251,826
    Brandon VanderfordASST TREAS/D$87,448

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $1,979,625
    • Number of Grants: 124
    • Number of Funders: 48

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $200,0002024 Wayne Duddlesten FoundationGENERAL USE
    $100,0002023 Wayne Duddlesten FoundationGENERAL USE
    $100,0002022 Wayne Duddlesten FoundationGENERAL USE
    $100,0002021 Wayne Duddlesten FoundationGENERAL USE
    $75,0002024 Daniels FundCONSTITUTING COLORADO: TEACHING THE CONSTITUTION TO COLORADO'S STUDENTS
    $50,0002022 Daniels FundBringing Founding Principles to Colorado's Next Generation
    $50,0002022 Community Foundation of North TexasFOR GENERAL PURPOSE
    $50,0002021 Community Foundation of North TexasFOR GENERAL PURPOSES
    $50,0002020 Wayne Duddlesten FoundationGENERAL USE
    $30,0002024 Raymond James Charitable Endowment FundGENERAL SUPPORT
    $25,0002022 The Anschutz FoundationGeneral Operating
    $22,5002024 The Armstrong FoundationEDUCATION
    $20,0002023 The Armstrong FoundationNATIONAL AND STATE POLICY
    $19,6002020 The Sumners FoundationWE THE PEOPLE 9.17 CONTEST
    $17,5002022 The Armstrong FoundationEDUCATION
    $15,0002024 Pine Rock Foundation IncGENERAL SUPPORT
    $15,0002024 Donors Trust Incfor historical education programs and promotion
    $15,0002022 Holman Foundation IncUNRESTRICTED CHARITABLE GIFT
    $14,0002021 Vanguard CharitableFOR RECIPIENT'S EXEM
    $12,6262022 Communities Foundation of TexasTHIS GRANT IS DESIGNATED FOR GENERAL SUPPORT.
    $12,5002021 National Philanthropic TrustEDUCATION
    $12,5002021 The Armstrong FoundationEDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
    $12,0002024 William S & Ann Atherton FoundationGENERAL FUND
    $10,0002024 Holman Foundation IncUNRESTRICTED CHARITABLE GIFT
    $10,0002024 Adolph Coors FoundationCOLORADO PROGRAMMING

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “Book a Speech for Free!” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/book-a-speech/.
    2. “What We Do.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/what-we-do/.
    3. Donors Trust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule I, Part II.
    4. Community Foundation of North Texas Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II.
    5. [1] The Deramus Foundation Inc, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV, Line 3a.
    6. “Janine Turner.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/janine-turner-bio/.
    7. “Cathy Gillespie.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/cathy-gillespie-bio/.
    8. “Juliette Turner.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/juliette-turner-2/.
    9. “James ‘Jay’ McConville.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/james-jay-mcconville/.
    10. “Governing Board.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/governing-board/.