Non-profit

End Citizens United (ECU) Action Fund

Website:

ecuactionfund.org/%20

Location:

Washington, DC

Tax ID:

82-4671419

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

Formation:

July 2018

Type:

Campaign Finance Advocacy Group

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

End Citizens United (ECU) Action Fund (also referred to as the End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund) is the advocacy and lobbying arm of the Democratic Party PAC End Citizens United (ECU) and Let America Vote (LAV), an organization that seeks to defeat politicians hostile to liberal voting rights priorities.

The fund receives large amounts of money from left-of-center organizations such as the National Redistricting Action Fund (NRAF) which has provided the fund with multiple millions of dollars. 1

ECU Action Fund spent approximately $17.2 million on promoting the “For the People Act,” legislation that would administer federal elections on left-progressive lines from the national level, through advertising in 2021; it has spent a total of $120,000 lobbying for the bill, among others, between 2020 and 2021. 23

Background

End Citizens United Action Fund is the advocacy and lobbying arm of the Democratic Party PAC End Citizens United (ECU) a group created to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in FEC v. Citizens United. 4

Let America Vote (LAV), a group that presents itself as a voting rights organization that seeks to defeat politicians hostile to liberal voting rights priorities, merged with End Citizens United in January 2020, leading the ECU Action Fund to relaunch as End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund. 5

Funding

Before it merged with Let America Vote in 2020, End Citizens United Action Fund received all its total revenue from contributions and grants.

ECU Action fund received $171,841 from contributions and grants in 2018, making up its total revenue. The organization had a total of $178,514 in expenses, $8,277 in assets, and $14,954 in liabilities. 6

The organization received a total revenue of $490,385 in 2019, all of which came from contributions and grants. ECU Action Fund’s total expenses for that year amounted to $502,368 with $362,109 of that total going towards salaries, benefits, and other compensation. It had a total asset value of $24,346 but paid $43,006 in liabilities. 7

According to ECU Action Fund’s donor disclosure, under the name of End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund, the organization received $455,000 from End Citizens United and $1 million from End Citizens United Non-Federal in 2020. The fund also received one $100,000 donation from an individual, and three individuals committed $25,000 each. 8

End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund notes that it received large amounts of money from individuals and organizations in 2021. It received $100,000 from Let America Vote in February and $250,000 from the Let America Vote Political Action Committee (PAC) in May. End Citizens United Non-Federal also contributed $250,000 to the fund in May. The Tioga Fund, a left-leaning lobbying and advocacy organization that engages on climate change, left-progressive women’s issues, electoral process issues, and civil liberties, contributed $100,000 in April. The Way to Win Action Fund also contributed $100,000 in April. 9

The ECU // LAV Action Fund also received money from the National Redistricting Action Fund (NRAF), the advocacy and lobbying arm of former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) and the National Redistricting Foundation, a 501(c)(3) litigation nonprofit that was created to litigate against Republican state elected officials for alleged Voting Rights Act infractions and what it deems illegal “gerrymandering” of state legislative and congressional districts ahead of the 2020 U.S. Census. NRAF committed $1.3 million in February 2021, $3.8 million in March, $2.5 million in April, and another $4.1 million in May. 10

The ECU // LAV Action Fund also received large amounts of money from individuals including donations of $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, $75,000, and $100,000. 11

Political Activities

Advertising

The End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund spent substantial money on advertising. It spent most of its money advertising the “For the People Act,” known as H.R. 1 and S. 1, which would administer national elections at the federal level on left-wing lines. ECU // LAV Action Fund spent a total of approximately $17.2 million on digital and television advertising between February and July 2021. It also spent $375,372 on mail and literature advertisements within that time. ECU // LAV Action Fund also spent a total of $308,800 on political advertisements on Google from March 21, 2021, until June 27, 2021. 1213

Lobbying

ECU // LAV Action Fund lobbied the federal government multiple times from 2020 through 2021. The fund spent $40,000 on lobbying in 2020 and doubled that amount to $80,000 in 2021. Bills the organization lobbied for include the For the People Act, PRIDE Act of 2021, National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act, and the second impeachment of then-President Donald Trump. 1415

References

  1. “ECU LAV Action Fund 2021 Contributions,” ecuactionfund.org, accessed August 2, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECULAV.pdf.
  2. “ECU LAV Action Fund – Advertising Report 2021,” ecuactionfund.org, accessed August 2, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECULAVActionFund-Ads-Report.pdf.
  3. “End Citizens United & Let America Vote Action Fund Lobbying Profile,” OpenSecrets, accessed August 2, 2021, https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2021&id=F320970.
  4. “About Us,” ECU Action Fund, July 21, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/about/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_73789ac7f36541c9139ace6dbec12f41ed632874-1627919704-0-gqNtZGzNAg2jcnBszQai.
  5. “About Us,” ECU Action Fund, July 21, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/about/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_73789ac7f36541c9139ace6dbec12f41ed632874-1627919704-0-gqNtZGzNAg2jcnBszQai.
  6. Mike Tigas Ken Schwencke, “End Citizens United Action Fund – Form Form 990-o for Period Ending Dec 2018 – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/824671419/12_2019_prefixes_82-86%2F824671419_201812_990O_2019123116985913.
  7. Mike Tigas Ken Schwencke, “End Citizens United Action Fund – Form Form 990-o for Period Ending Dec 2019 – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/824671419/08_2020_prefixes_81-82%2F824671419_201912_990O_2020082017248423.
  8. “ECU LAV Action Fund 2020 Contributions,” ecuactionfund.org, accessed August 2, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AF-2020-Contributions-1.pdf .
  9. “ECU LAV Action Fund 2021 Contributions,” ecuactionfund.org, accessed August 2, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECULAV.pdf.
  10. “ECU LAV Action Fund 2021 Contributions,” ecuactionfund.org, accessed August 2, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECULAV.pdf.
  11. “ECU LAV Action Fund 2021 Contributions,” ecuactionfund.org, accessed August 2, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECULAV.pdf.
  12. “ECU LAV Action Fund – Advertising Report 2021,” ecuactionfund.org, accessed August 2, 2021, https://ecuactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECULAVActionFund-Ads-Report.pdf.
  13. “End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund – Google Advertising,” Google transparency report (Google), accessed August 2, 2021, https://transparencyreport.google.com/political-ads/advertiser/AR130922182413910016?hl=en_GB.
  14. “End Citizens United & Let America Vote Action Fund Lobbying Profile,” OpenSecrets, accessed August 2, 2021, https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2021&id=F320970.
  15. “End Citizens United & Let America Vote Action Fund – Bills Lobbied,” OpenSecrets, accessed August 2, 2021, https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/bills?cycle=2021&id=F320970.
  See an error? Let us know!

End Citizens United (ECU) Action Fund


Washington, DC