Fund for a Better Future, established in 2015, is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that primarily sponsors lobbying and social welfare nonprofits in the United States. The group’s funding priorities include anti-Republican Party advocacy groups, abortion activists, and left-of-center environmentalists. ¹

Grant Areas

Anti-Republican Advocacy

The Fund for a Better Future was a substantial supporter of The Democracy Integrity Project (TDIP), giving the left-of-center advocacy group more than $2 million in 2017.² An advocacy organization with ties to controversial political research firm Fusion GPS, TDIP has been shrouded in secrecy. ² According to reporting by the Daily Caller News Foundation, TDIP’s founder described the group as a “shadow media organization helping the government,” and that TDIP had been the mastermind behind a number of anti-Trump stories circulating in the press. ²

Fund for a Better Future has also backed the lobbying organization Priorities USA Action. The group was the Fund’s largest grantee in 2017, receiving a $4 million grant from Fund for a Better Future. ¹ In 2021, Priorities USA was the fund’s second-largest grantee, receiving $10 million from the fund. ³ In 2022, Priorities USA was once again the fund’s largest grantee, receiving an $8,155,000 grant. ⁴ In 2023, Priorities USA was the fund’s second-largest grantee, receiving $8 million. ⁵

The Fund for a Better Future is a funder of the pro-Biden administration advocacy group Building Back Together. Former Biden campaign staffers and other Democratic Party strategists founded the group to promote pro-Biden administration messaging. At the time of the group’s founding in February 2021, CNN reported that the Biden administration gave the group its blessing but would not directly control the group. ⁶ In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future gave the group $2,980,000 in grants. ³ In 2022, the fund gave Building Back Together $1,300,000. ⁴ In 2023, the fund gave $760,000. ⁵

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future gave $750,000 to the left-of-center advocacy group Indivisible Project. ³ In 2022 and 2023, the Fund for a Better Future gave Indivisible Project $1 million each year. ^{4 5} In 2019, the Indivisible Project signed a letter advocating for a Green New Deal and opposing the use of carbon-free nuclear energy. ⁷

In 2022, the Fund for a Better Future gave $5 million to the American Bridge 21^st Century Foundation, which is the advocacy arm of the American Bridge 21^st Century super PAC, which focuses on opposition research against Republican candidates. ⁴

In 2022, Fund for a Better Future gave $2,500,000 to the Future Forward USA Action group, which is affiliated with the Democratic Party-aligned super PAC Future Forward USA PAC. ⁴ Before then-President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, Future Forward USA Action worked with Fund for a Better Future’s fiscally sponsored project Climate Power and the Way to Win Action Fund on a plan to boost then-President Biden’s policies and his standing with the American people. ⁸

In 2023, the Fund for a Better Future gave $2 million to the Nevada Alliance, ⁵ which is a Democratic Party-aligned “dark money” group that funds Democratic causes in Nevada, ⁹ and $100,000 to Pennsylvania United. ⁵

Abortion

Fund for a Better Future is also a donor to the national lobbying arm of Planned Parenthood, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, giving the group $1 million during 2017. ¹

Environment

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Fund for a Better Future spent $35,000 lobbying U.S. policymakers to greenlight an environmentalist project, known as the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project Phase III Act of 2016. ¹⁰ The following year, the Fund for a Better Future dedicated a $500,000 grant to the left-of-center environmentalist group League of Conservation Voters. ¹ In 2021, the League of Conservation Voters was the fund’s single-largest grantee, receiving $10,675,000 from the fund. ³ In 2022, the League of Conservation Voters received $445,000 from the fund. ⁴

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future gave $1,119,260 to the Partnership Project Action Fund, an environmentalist advocacy group affiliated with the Partnership Project. The Partnership Project is a coalition of 20 environmentalist groups, including some of the largest environmentalist groups in America. The Partnership Project’s and the Partnership Project Action Fund’s largest activities are sending money to other environmentalist groups, including its coalition members, and sending money to other left-of-center groups. ³ In 2022, the group received $15,000 from the fund. ⁴ In 2023, the group received $35,000. ⁵

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future gave $500,000 to the Energy Action Fund. The Energy Action Fund is a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy nonprofit and the 501(c)(4) advocacy arm of the Energy Foundation, a major pass-through funder of environmentalist groups. ³

In 2022, the Fund for a Better Future gave $120,000 each to the Bluegreen Alliance and Clean Energy for America. The fund also gave $50,000 to California Environmental Voters and $47,500 to Air Alliance Houston. ⁴

In 2023, the Fund for a Better Future gave $2,000,000 to the US Megafire Response Action Fund and $250,000 to the Clean Air Action Fund. ⁵

Until 2023, the Fund for a Better Future was the fiscal sponsor of Climate Power Action, a group founded in 2020 by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club. The group’s purpose was to attack then-President Donald Trump’s record on the environment and to support policies such as the Green New Deal. ¹¹ In 2022, Climate Power Action and the League of Conservation Voters teamed up to launch a “sophisticated targeting project unlike anything they’d ever undertaken” to help Democrats in that year’s midterm elections. ⁸ In 2022, the Fund for a Better Future gave Climate Power Action $5,700,000. ⁴ In 2023, the group received $21,300,000. ⁵

Voter Registration and Elections

Between 2016 and 2021, the Fund for a Better Future gave $800,000 in grants to the Voter Registration Project, which has been accused of launching voter registration drives intended to help the Democratic Party. The Voter Participation Center in 2020 coordinated with Democratic consultants to launch a campaign to selectively register “non-white” voters in swing states to help Democrats win the 2020 presidential election. Under federal law, charities and foundations are forbidden to engage in partisan voter registration drives. According to an August 2023 report by the Capital Research Center, which publishes the InfluenceWatch website, the Voter Participation Center’s “Everybody Votes” campaign is estimated to have won President Joe Biden 1 million to 2.7 million new votes across eight swing states in 2020. If the state-by-state estimated vote total projections by the Democratic consultants held true, President Biden would have received more votes than his victory margins in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. ¹²

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future donated $4.9 million to twice-failed Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’s Fair Fight Action. ³ Abrams, who questioned the results of the 2018 election that she lost, has been accused of using Fair Fight Action to promote her own political ambitions. ¹³

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future gave $25,000 to Poder Latinx through its managing group, the Tides Foundation. ³

In 2022, the Fund for a Better Future gave $250,000 to All Voting is Local Action, which is the nonpartisan 501(c)(4) advocacy arm of All Voting is Local, a group opposed to voter integrity protections. The fund also gave $200,000 to the Black Men Vote Civic Action Fund, a group that registers Black men to vote. The fund also gave $200,000 to Voto Latino. The fund also gave $169,400 to the Run for Something Action Fund, which pushes Millennial and Gen-Z left-of-center individuals to run for office. The fund also gave $125,000 to the Black Progressive Action Coalition. The fund also gave $50,000 to the National Redistricting Action Fund. ⁴

In 2023, the fund gave $250,000 to All Voting is Local Action, $250,000 to Run for Something Action Fund, and $50,000 to Civic Nation. ⁵

Court Advocacy

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future donated $2 million to Demand Justice, a left-of-center advocacy group that supports the appointment and confirmation of left-leaning judicial nominees and opposes right-leaning judicial nominees. ³ In 2021, Demand Justice supported legislation that would pack the U.S. Supreme Court by increasing the number of justices on the court from nine to thirteen. ¹⁴

Anti-Gun Advocacy

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future donated $15,000 to the anti-gun advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund. ¹⁵

Arabella Advisors Network

In 2021, the Fund for a Better Future donated $50,000 to the North Fund and $20,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, both of which were created and are administered by the left-leaning for-profit company Arabella Advisors. ³ In 2022, the fund gave $250,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund. ⁴

Funding

The Fund for a Better Future is funded by donations from individuals and organizations. Donors get to select which issues their contributions will go to support. In 2017, the four biggest donors accounted for 84 percent of total grants and contributions received by the group. ¹⁶ In the group’s 2017 tax year, the Fund for a Better Future contributed a total of $8,889,649 to support left-wing organizations. ¹

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has emerged as the single-largest donor to the Fund for a Better Future. Wyss, who runs the Wyss Foundation and the Berger Action Fund, funneled $20.3 million through the Berger Action Fund to the Fund for a Better Future between April 2021 and March 2022. ⁸

In 2023, the Berger Action Fund sent another $7 million to the Fund for a Better Future. ¹⁷

Wyss’s contributions are controversial because Wyss is a Swiss citizen and not an American citizen, and foreign nationals are forbidden by law from contributing directly or indirectly to American political campaigns. ⁸

Affiliated Organizations

Resources Legacy Fund is the 501(c)(3) parent organization of the Fund for a Better Future. ¹⁸ In addition to covering its administrative expenses, the Resources Legacy Fund provides the Fund for a Better Future with the staff and office space it needs to operate. ¹

Leadership

As of March 2025, Matt Armsby is the interim president of the Resources Legacy Fund. Armsby is an environmental attorney. ¹⁹ He replaced Avi Garbow, who previously worked as the group’s president until he left in November 2024. Garbow previously worked for the EPA and Patagonia. ²⁰

Resources Legacy Fund president and founder Michael Mantell is the former president and secretary of Fund for a Better Future. ^{21 1} Board members include Jason Burnett, who also serves as the trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Christopher Elliman, CEO of the Open Space Institute; environmentalist activist Martha Kongsgaard; Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation chairman Preston Pinkett III; and Corridor Partners senior consultant Melissa Roy. ⁵ Corridor Partners principal Kathleen Welch is a former board member. ²²

Finances

According to the Fund for a Better Future’s 2023 tax returns, the fund had $41,718,209 in revenue, $41,402,425 in expenses, and $19,740,449 in net assets. ⁵

1. Fund for a Better Future Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2017.
2. Ross, Chuck. “Dark Money Org Gave $2 Million To Group Working with Fusion GPS, Steele.” The Daily Caller. The Daily Caller, March 11, 2019. https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/10/dark-money-fusion-steele-soros/.
3. “Fund for a Better Future Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/812319758/202242979349302064/full.
4. “Fund for a Better Future Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/812319758/202313259349300911/full.
5. “Fund for a Better Future Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/812319758/202422859349301632/full.
6. Diamond, Jeremy, and Jeff Zeleny. “Pro-Biden Outside Group Launching with White House’s Blessing.” CNN, February 17, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/17/politics/biden-outside-group/index.html.
7. “Group Letter to Congress Urging Green New Deal Passage.” Earthworks, January 10, 2019. https://earthworks.org/resources/group-letter-to-congress-urging-green-new-deal-passage/.
8. Schoffstall, Joe, and Thomas Catenacci. “Liberal Swiss Billionaire’s Extensive Nonprofit Cash Targeted Ahead of 2024 Election: ‘Needs to Be Stopped.’” Fox News, July 20, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/liberal-swiss-billionaires-extensive-nonprofit-cash-targeted-2024-election-needs-stopped.
9. Neugeboren, Eric. “Who’s behind One of Nevada’s Biggest Democratic Donors? It’s a Secret.” The Nevada Independent, August 20, 2024. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/whos-behind-one-of-nevadas-biggest-democratic-donors-its-a-secret.
10. “Bills Lobbied, 2016.” OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics, n.d. https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientbills.php?id=F201483&year=2016.
11. “Climate Power 2020 Launches Campaign to Change the Politics of Climate.” Sierra Club, May 13, 2020. https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/05/climate-power-2020-launches-campaign-change-politics-climate.
12. Thayer, Parker. “How Charities Secretly Help Win Elections.” Capital Research Center, August 15, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CRC-Voter-Registration-Report.pdf.
13. Slodysko, Brian. “Stacey Abrams’ Nonprofit Fair Fight Action’s Political Spending Looms as Problem.” The Washington Times, March 20, 2019. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/20/stacey-abrams-nonprofit-fair-fight-actions-politic/.
14.  Levine, Marianne. “Democrats to Introduce Legislation to Expand Supreme Court .” Politico, April 14, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/14/democrats-supreme-court-481640.
15. “ Fund for a Better Future Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/812319758/202242979349302064/full.
16. Author’s calculations from Fund for a Better Future Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2017, Part I Line 8 and Schedule B
17.  “Berger Action Fund-Form 990.” Berger Action Fund. Accessed March 10, 2025. file:///C:/Users/KBoyd/Downloads/2023%20Berger%20Action%20Fund%20990.pdf.
18. “Partner Organizations.” Resources Legacy Fund, n.d. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/related-organizations.
19. “Our Team.” Resources Legacy Fund. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/our-team/.
20.  “Avi Garbow – University of Virginia School of Law.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/avi-garbow-12a36a45.
21. Resources Legacy Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2017.
22. “Protecting the Environment, Ensuring Healthy Communities, and Advancing Equal Rights for All.” Fund for A Better Future, n.d. https://fundforabetterfuture.org/.