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Non-profit

Free the People

Website:

freethepeople.org
Location:

Washington, DC
Tax ID:

47-5598652
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2018):

Revenue: $1,180,796
Expenses: $1,204,433
Assets: $270,519
Formation:

2016
Type:

Non-profit
President:

Matt Kibbe

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Free the People is a non-partisan production company that creates documentary films, video web series, and podcasts with pro-liberty values geared towards younger Americans. 1 Free the People uses storytelling and social media engagement to promote the values of liberty, including individual responsibility, free choice, and entrepreneurship. Free the People focuses on issues like criminal justice, health care choice, and corporate cronyism. 2

Free the People is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. 3 While Free the People is non-partisan, members of its staff have affiliations with the Republican and Libertarian Parties.

Activity

Free the People is a non-partisan production company that creates documentary films, video web series, and podcasts with pro-liberty values geared towards younger Americans. 4 Free the People uses storytelling and social media engagement to promote the values of liberty, including individual responsibility, free choice, and entrepreneurship. Free the People focuses on issues like criminal justice, health care choice, and corporate cronyism. 5Top of Form

Free the People advocates for criminal justice policies that include ending civil asset forfeiture (which it claims is unconstitutional), ending mandatory minimum sentencing, and reforming prison systems and sentencing procedures on both the state and federal levels. 6 In 2019, Free the People published a video claiming that the high rate of incarceration in the United States is caused by our laws, not by people committing crimes at higher rates than in other countries. The video further claims that other areas of criminal justice such as bail reform, expungement, fines and fees, and prosecutorial misconduct are often overlooked and deserve more attention when considering reforms. 7

Free the People advocates for free markets and against crony capitalism, which it claims is the opposite of free enterprise. Free the People opposes government bailouts, government subsidies, and state-created monopolies. It claims that government support of inefficient or unprofitable companies prevents market innovation, impedes competition, and restrains trade. 8

Free the People advocates for defending the Bill of Rights in its entirety and claims that government interference has led to only selective rights being defended. Free the People claims that the internet allows the government more opportunities to infringe on civil liberties, including the right to free speech, freedom from unjust searches and seizures, and the right to due process of law. Free the People further claims that the government now has more ways to invade citizens’ privacy, that agencies like the FBI and the National Security Agency spy on citizens without due process, and that the government can coerce companies to compromise their users’ security. 9

Free the People claims that free choice is the foundation of individual liberty and advocates for choice in health care. Free the People supports the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity’s solution to create a market-based healthcare system instead of a government-run single payer system, or “Medicare for All.” 10 Free the People also advocates for ending the War on Drugs, claiming that people should be free to choose the substances they want to consume. 11

Free the People advocates for school choice, including private schools, homeschooling, and online academies. Free the People claims that a single approach to education has always failed, as all students learn differently. 12 In a 2017 article, Free the People points out that the word “education” is not mentioned in the Constitution, drawing the conclusion that education should not be the responsibility of the federal government. Free the People also points out that mandatory schooling did not exist at the time of the Constitution, and claims non-compulsory public schools gave parents the choice of whether to send their children to school, establishing the freedom of school choice. 13

Funding

Free the People is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While Free the People does not disclose its donors, tax filings show donations from the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, which contributed between 2018 and 2019;14 QXZ, Inc., which contributed in 2016;15 and the Davis L. Smith Foundation, which contributed in 2018. 16

People

Matt Kibbe is co-founder, president, and chief community organizer of Free the People and co-founder of Fight the Power Productions. Kibbe is a co-founder of FreedomWorks, where he formerly served as president. Kibbe is the founder of AlternativePAC, formerly served as senior advisor to a SuperPAC associated with U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), and formerly worked as a budget director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and senior economist for the Republican National Committee. 17

Terry Kibbe is co-founder and CEO of Free the People and co-founder of Fight the Power Productions. Kibbe formerly served as a senior advisor to AlternativePAC and as a fundraiser for various organizations, including a Paul-aligned SuperPAC, FreedomWorks, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Cato Institute. 18

Kara Pally is the chief technology officer of Free the People and the former chief technology officer of FreedomWorks. 19

Matt Battaglia is the executive producer of Free the People and former creative manager of FreedomWorks. 20

Logan Albright is the head writer and sound engineer at Free the People and a former senior research analyst at FreedomWorks. 21

Joel Davis is the social media coordinator at Free the People and formerly served as a Libertarian mayor of Paden City, West Virginia. 22

References

  1. “Donate to Free the People.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 16, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/donate/.
  2. “About Free the People.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 16, 2021.  https://freethepeople.org/about/.
  3. “The Network: Alabama.” State Policy Network, 2021. Accessed March 16, 2021. https://spn.org/directory/#AL.
  4. “Donate to Free the People.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 16, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/donate/.
  5. “About Free the People.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 16, 2021.  https://freethepeople.org/about/.
  6. “Our Issues.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/issues/.
  7. “Top 5 Overlooked Areas of Criminal Justice Reform.” Free the People Foundation, May 27, 2019. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/top-5-overlooked-areas-of-criminal-justice-reform/.
  8. “Our Issues.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/issues/.
  9. “Our Issues.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/issues/.
  10. “How Can We Actually Improve Health Care?” Free the People Foundation, March 10, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/kol-how-can-we-actually-improve-health-care-guest-kara-jones-ep-112/.
  11. “Our Issues.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/issues/.
  12. “Our Issues.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/issues/.
  13. “5 Reasons Why School Choice Is Freedom.” Free the People Foundation, August 24, 2017. Accessed March 21, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/5-reasons-school-choice-freedom/.
  14. Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018-2019, Part XV, Line 3a.
  15. QXZ, Inc., Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I, Part II.
  16. Davis L. Smith Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018, Part XV, Line 3a.
  17. “Matt Kibbe.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/author/mkibbe/.
  18. “Terry Kibbe.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/author/tkibbe/.
  19. “Kara Pally.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/karapally/.
  20. “Matt Battaglia.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-battaglia-15a5b648/.
  21. “Logan Albright.” Free the People Foundation, 2021. Accessed March 18, 2021. https://freethepeople.org/author/lalbright/.
  22. “West Virginia Libertarian city council member elected Mayor.” Libertarian National Committee. Accessed March 18, 2021. https://www.lp.org/blogs-staff-west-virginia-libertarian-city-council-member-elected-mayor/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: October - September
  • Tax Exemption Received: July 1, 2016

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2018 Oct Form 990 $1,180,796 $1,204,433 $270,519 $13,046 N $1,180,425 $0 $371 $0 PDF
    2017 Oct Form 990 $911,220 $794,365 $283,138 $2,028 N $911,052 $0 $116 $0
    2016 Oct Form 990 $692,154 $527,899 $210,181 $45,926 N $692,154 $0 $0 $0

    Free the People

    611 PENNSYLVANIA AVE SE NO 259
    Washington, DC 20003-4303