The Hopewell Fund is a 501(c)(3) funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit managed by Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based philanthropy consulting firm. The Hopewell Fund manages a number of left-of-center single-issue advocacy groups, including the Economic Security Project and pro-Obamacare Get America Covered.

The Hopewell Fund often operates alongside its “sister” nonprofits, primarily the 501(c)(4) Sixteen Thirty Fund and 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund, which both provide similar funding and fiscal sponsorship services to center-left advocacy organizations. All three funds are administered by Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based philanthropy consulting firm that caters to left-leaning clients. The Windward Fund, another 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is also managed by Arabella Advisors and performs similar functions.

“Fake” Groups

The Hopewell Fund, like all four nonprofits managed by the for-profit consultancy Arabella Advisors, primarily exists to sponsor a number of “fake” groups: websites designed to look like standalone nonprofits. These “fake” groups rarely become fully-fledged nonprofits; instead, they typically exist to effect an issue advocacy campaign pushing left-wing policies and may disappear after the campaign is finished. The Hopewell Fund is one of the newer of Arabella’s four nonprofits, founded in 2015, and most of the “fake” groups it sponsors are focused on expanding abortion access and criticizing President Donald Trump’s healthcare policies. ^[1]

The Hopewell Fund describes its mission as “facilitat[ing] rapid and efficient launchers of well-resourced projects with diverse revenue and funding models, including charitable contributions and investments.” The group is managed by Arabella Advisors, which provides the nonprofit with staffers, “operational support in managing the organization,” and “supplemental consulting support for some Hopewell Fund projects” in exchange for fees paid to the company by the Hopewell Fund. ^[2]

The following are an example of known projects sponsored by the Hopewell Fund, more of which are listed at the bottom of this profile (under “Child Organizations”).

Equity Forward

Equity Forward is a project of the Hopewell Fund that aims to criticize legislation created by the Trump administration regarding healthcare. Equity Forward runs a campaign named “HHS Watch” that publishes opposition research on Trump administration nominees that are associated with socially conservative groups, especially those that are attacked by the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center. ^[3]

NFL Players Coalition

In December 2017, the Hopewell Fund became the fiscal sponsor of the NFL Players Coalition, the charitable vehicle created by the National Football League in November 2018 to “contribute $89 million over seven years to social justice causes.” ^[4] Hopewell Fund l was reportedly promised 50 percent of the total sum.

Economic Security Project

Hopewell Fund manages the Economic Security Project, which promotes guaranteed basic income. Such a program would create government cash payments to individuals. ^{[5] [6]} To this end, the Economic Security Project funds the Roosevelt Institute, the nominally libertarian Niskanen Center, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Center for Popular Democracy, and the Stanford Basic Income Lab. ^[7] Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza is a founding signatory for the Economic Security Project, and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes is a co-chair for the Project.

Known Hopewell Fund Projects

• Arizonans For Responsible Government
• Economic Security Project
• Economic Security Project Action
• Equity Forward (Equity Fwd)
• Get America Covered
• Impact Project
• Learning Together Project Fund
• Over Zero
• Players Coalition
• Resources for Abortion Delivery
• The Newsroom Network

Leadership

Board of Directors

Lee Bodner is the board chair and president of the Hopewell Fund. Bodner formerly served as the managing director for the for-profit philanthropy consulting firm Arabella Advisors which controls Hopewell Fund, New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, and Windward Fund. Bodner previously worked as the executive director of EcoAmerica, an environmental advocacy organization.

Andrew Schulz, an Arabella Advisors employee, is general counsel for the Hopewell Fund. He previously worked as in-house counsel for Council on Foundations.

Wilbur Priester, an Arabella Advisors employee, is the chief financial officer of the Hopewell Fund.

Michael Slaby is the board secretary of Hopewell Fund. Slaby previously worked as a Democratic Party operative and as chief technology for both of President Barack Obama’s campaigns.

Sampriti Ganguli is the board treasurer of Hopewell Fund. She is also the CEO of Arabella Advisors. ^[8]

Key Staff

In 2018, the Hopewell Fund spent $5,843,321 in salaries and employee compensation. ^[9] In 2017, the group spent $1,496,077 in salaries and employee compensation. ^[10]

Scott Nielsen is the managing director for Hopewell Fund, according to the group’s website. He was a Hopewell Fund board member from 2015 to 2016, but left the board in 2017; Nielsen is not reported as a paid employee or board member in the group’s 2018 IRS Form 990 filing. ^[11] Nielsen has a long history of working for left-leaning organizations as he previously worked as a program director for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and founded a consulting firm that provided services for organizations such as Open Society Foundations, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Democracy Alliance, and more. ^[12]

Megan Cavanaugh is a Hopewell Fund project director. In 2018, she received total compensation of $234,178. ^[13] She is the managing director for Resources for Abortion Delivery, a project of Hopewell Fund which provides financial support to private abortion clinics. Cavanaugh was previously employed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where she worked as the national director for affiliate services. ^[14]

Bonnie Scott Jones is a Hopewell Fund project director; in 2017, she was listed as the group’s executive director. In 2018, she received total compensation of $189,342. ^[15] Jones formerly worked as an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, a left-leaning abortion-rights organization that has received large donations from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and the Borrego Foundation. ^{[16] [17]}

Courtney Cuff is a Hopewell Fund project director. In 2018, she received total compensation of $349,866. ^[18]

Christopher FitzSimon is a Hopewell Fund project director. In 2018, he received total compensation of $192,318. ^[19]

Mary Alice Carter is a Hopewell Fund project director. In 2018, she received total compensation of $190,049. ^[20]

Lobbying

Between 2018 and 2019 (Quarter 3), the Hopewell Fund spent just over $70,000 in lobbying the U.S. Congress (a version with the bills lobbied is available here): ^[21]

Funding

Financial Overview

The Hopewell Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. In 2018, it reported $66.9 million in total revenues, $78.1 million in total expenditures, and $105.4 million in net assets. In 2018, the group paid $60 million in grants. ^[22] Hopewell Fund reported a total revenue of $16,552,056 in the organization’s 2016 IRS 990 filings, more than double the $6,895,261 it reported in 2015. ^[23]

An overview of the group’s finances from 2015 to 2018 is available below: ^[24]

Funds Spent on “Fake” Group Activism

According to its 2018 IRS Form 990 filing (archived here), the Hopewell Fund identified three program areas in which it spent money:

Hopewell spent $59,723,209 on “civil rights, social action, and advocacy,” of which $51,227,478 was paid out as grants to other nonprofits. ^[25]

Hopewell’s portfolio of civil rights, social action, and advocacy focus areas include addressing income inequality, improving civic engagement among traditionally underrepresented groups, and advancing state level economic and democracy reforms.

Hopewell spent $12,010,520 on “health” advocacy, of which $8,812,390 was paid out as grants to other nonprofits. ^[26]

Hopewell’s portfolio of health focus areas include women’s health, healthcare access, and reducing health disparities and avoidable infant mortality.

Hopewell spent $831,645 on “international development and foreign affairs.” ^[27]

Hopewell Fund’s international development & foreign affairs portfolio includes projects focused on preventing and reducing targeted group violence, and researching and providing public education on United States foreign policy and its impacts.

The Hopewell Fund also reported spending $2,510,502 on other unidentified program services. ^[28]

Donors to Hopewell Fund

According to tax returns, the Hopewell Fund received a grant of $3,120,070 from the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation, a left-leaning philanthropic organization named for the late spouse of left-leaning billionaire Warren Buffett. ^[29]

The left-leaning Rockefeller Brothers Fund made multiple donations to the Hopewell Fund in 2017 according to the organization’s grants database. ^[30]

Other major grantors to the Hopewell Fund include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Democracy Fund, Stephen M. Silberstein Foundation, and a number of community foundations and donor-advised fund providers. A complete list of grants from foundations to the Hopewell Fund between 2015 and 2017 is available below: ^[31]

Grants from Hopewell Fund

In 2018, the Hopewell Fund made $55.7 million in grants, mostly to other left-wing organizations. ^[32]

In 2017, the Hopewell Fund gave just under $5 million to Priorities USA Foundation, a Democratic Party-aligned advocacy group affiliated with the Priorities USA super PAC. ^[33] The Priorities USA organizations are funded by major left-leaning figures, among them Donald Sussman, George Soros, and Fred Eychaner. ^{[34] [35]}

Consulting and Management Fees

Between 2015 and 2018, the Hopewell Fund paid roughly $10.2 million in consulting and management fees, $6.2 million of which was paid to Arabella Advisors for management services. ^[36]

Financial Documents

The Hopewell Fund’s 2016, 2017, and 2018 IRS filings are available here:

• 2018 IRS Filing (Form 990)
• 2017 IRS Filing (Form 990)
• 2016 IRS Filing (Form 990)

Hopewell’s IRS Form 1023 application for IRS tax exempt status is available here; the file also includes:

• a description of Hopewell’s charitable activities;
• examples of Hopewell’s projects concerning “alleviating child poverty” and “serving as a charity incubator”;
• Hopewell’s initial board of directors and officers (Eric Kessler, Scott Nielsen, and Michael Slaby), as well as their “qualifications”;
• Hopewell’s articles of incorporation, filed in the District of Columbia on April 9, 2015;
• the nonprofit’s bylaws; and
• an administrative agreement between the Hopewell Fund and Arabella Advisors for the latter to provide paid management services to the former.

The Hopewell Fund received IRS tax exempt recognition on October 16, 2015; its IRS letter is available here.