Family Research Council (FRC) is a right-of-center advocacy organization that seeks to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and American culture. ¹ FRC focuses on issues like traditional family values, life and human dignity, religious liberty and freedom of conscience, and civil society. ²

FRC Action is the electoral and advocacy arm of Family Research Council. ³

Activities

Family Research Council advocates for traditional family values, including defining marriage as solely between one man and one woman, endorsing sexual relations only within the confines of such a marriage, and affirming that people are born either male or female. Additionally, FRC defines family as being formed only through blood, marriage, or adoption. ⁴

Family Research Council opposes the proposed Equality Act, claiming that it would negatively affect religious liberties, create a legislative right to abortion, and add subjective categories, like sexual orientation and gender identity, to civil rights statutes. ⁵

Family Research Council unconditionally values every human life, from conception to death by natural causes. FRC opposes abortion, supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and supports the passage of fetal dignity laws. Additionally, Family Research Council publishes resources supporting its pro-life stance, in an effort to persuade secular and pro-abortion individuals to change their views. ⁶

Family Research Council advocates for religious freedom for people of all faiths, everywhere. ⁷ FRC advocates for a long-term U.S. foreign policy strategy that incorporates religious freedom as a means to ensure national security. Family Research Council claims that in many cases, areas of the world that engage in religious persecution also pose a threat to national security. FRC further claims that cultivating religious freedom worldwide would lead to economic growth and stability in addition to security. ⁸

Family Research Council advocates for the right to freedom of conscience and supports medical providers’ right to refrain from performing procedures to which they are morally opposed. FRC also supports individuals’ rights to choose health insurance policies that do not subsidize procedures to which they are morally opposed. ⁹ Family Research Council opposed the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal government employees, claiming that the mandate was an abuse of power and infringed on freedom of conscience rights and the ability of families to make their own health decisions. ¹⁰

Funding

The Family Research Council is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While FRC does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm notable donations from the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation ($1.4 million in 2014), ¹¹ the Christian Community Foundation ($166,000 on 2018), ¹² and Donors Capital Fund ($150,000 in 2010). ¹³

People

Tony Perkins is the president of Family Research Council. Perkins is a former Republican Louisiana state representative, former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the immediate past president of the Council for National Policy. ¹⁴

Jerry Boykin is the executive vice president of FRC and the former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence during the George W. Bush administration. ¹⁵

Board of Directors

Michele Bachmann is the chair of the board of Family Research Council and the dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University. Bachmann is a former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a founding member of the congressional Tea Party Caucus. ¹⁶

Other members of the board include Carter Conlon, Paavo Ensio, Anne-Marie Farrell, Allan Hoekstra, Paul Kepes, David Langdon,  and Paul Tripodi. ¹⁷

1. “Vision and Mission Statements.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2022. https://www.frc.org/mission-statement.
2. “Issues.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://www.frc.org/issues.
3. “FAQs.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2022. https://www.frc.org/faqs.
4. “Marriage, Family, and Sexuality.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://www.frc.org/marriage.
5. Waddell, Mary Beth, J.D. “How the ‘Equality Act’ Is Actually Unequal, Unfair, and Unjust.” Family Research Council, February 2021. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF19D32.pdf.
6. “Life and Human Dignity.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://www.frc.org/life.
7. “Religious Liberty and Conscience.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://www.frc.org/religious-liberty.
8. Weber, Travis, J.D., LL.M. and Del Turco, Arielle, M.A. “Why Religious Freedom Is a National Security Issue.” Family Research Council, August 2021. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF18D05.pdf
9. “Freedom of Conscience.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://www.frc.org/conscience.
10. “President Biden’s Vaccine Mandates are an Unprecedented Abuse of Power, says Family Research Council.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 9, 2022. https://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR21I01
11. Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2014, Part XV, Line 3a.
12. Christian Community Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule I, Part II.
13. Donors Capital Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2010, Schedule I, Part II.
14. “Tony Perkins.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2022. https://www.frc.org/tony-perkins.
15. “Jerry Boykin.” Family Research Council, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2022. https://www.frc.org/biography/william-boykin.
16. “Regent University Names Michele Bachmann as Dean of the Robertson School of Government.” Regent University, December 22, 2020. Accessed May 6, 2022. https://www.regent.edu/news/regent-university-names-michele-bachmann-as-dean-of-the-robertson-school-of-government/.
17. Family Research Council, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.