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ProPublica

The Propublica logo (link)
Website:

www.propublica.org/
Location:

NEW YORK, NY
Tax ID:

14-2007220
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $37,513,092
Expenses: $30,208,192
Assets: $58,666,359
Type:

Journalist Organization
Formation:

2007

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ProPublica is an investigative journalist organization which publishes reports on perceived and actual abuses of power by governments, businesses, and other entities. 1 Its database of 9.6 million tax filing 990 documents for non-profits is used frequently by organizations across the political spectrum. 2

It was founded in 2007 with two employees. As of 2019, it has approximately 100 staff. 3

ProPublica has received several awards in the past for its reporting, however the organization has also received backlash and controversy in the past due to claims of using a “left-wing” bias. Other controversy includes claims of targeting conservative organizations in their reporting at the same time the IRS received similar controversy over its handling of approving tax-exempt status for right-wing groups leading up to the 2012 presidential elections. 4

Funding

ProPublica’s 2017 revenue reached a record $43,574,038. It spent almost $18.3 million that year and had assets of $37,324,780. Its tax-return-reported 2018 revenue of $26,685,933 was several million dollars less than its annual report-noted $30 million in revenues. 567

ProPublica reports that over 34,000 small donors provided 17 percent of revenue. This was a significant increase in donor dollars and the total number of donors since 2015. Members of the ProPublica Board of Directors provided over $5.5 million in contributions and related grants in 2017. 8

The 2018 revenues gave ProPublica a financial reserve of $25.5 million to start 2019. Its assets totaled $39,894,845 at the end of 2018, according to its 2018 tax returns. 910

ProPublica’s tax returns report that its top 2018 donors included the left-leaning Emerson Collective of Laurene Powell Jobs (in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation), The Sandler Foundation, the Kerfuffle Foundation (in conjunction with the donor-advised fund provider Fidelity Charitable), and the health care-focused Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Emerson gave $4.6 million, Sandler gave $3 million, Kerfuffle gave $1 million, and Robert Wood Johnson gave $749,900. 11

The Sandler Foundation provided initial funding for ProPublica, and Foundation founder Herb Sandler was ProPublica’s founding chairman of the Board of Directors until 2016. 12 The Foundation is involved with a number of left-of-center organizations; it helped found the Center for American Progress, and it has provided support for the Sierra Club and the American Civil Liberties Union. 13

Other large donations came from left-leaning sources: investor Donald Sussman, who donated $25 million to support Democrats in the 2018 election cycle, donated $480,100;14 George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society donated $200,000; and the left-wing advocacy group Solidarity Giving gave $150,000. 15

According to their 2021 990 tax info, its largest donation, $3 million, came from the Crankstart Foundation, the family foundation of Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz. Another $2 million donation came from Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, through her investment firm Emerson Collective. In addition, ProPublica received $175,903 from grantmaking network Foundation to Promote Open Society, founded by philanthropist George Soros. 16

Mission

ProPublica’s mission is to provide influential investigative journalism to call attention to, and create action against, abuse of power. 17 The organization is very critical of the Trump administration. 18 It also reported critically on the Obama administration and the 2012 Obama re-election campaign. 192021 It tends to have a left-leaning perspective in its coverage.

In addition to traditional journalistic vows of objectivity, ProPublica’s code of ethics bans the use of pseudonyms in its work, bans employee short-selling and investment decisions based upon ProPublica work prior to publication, and does not provide political contributions or reimbursement for employee donations. 22

Influence

ProPublica’s influence and impact are significant. It has worked with 184 “publishing partners,” from national publications to local news outlets, since its creation, including 59 in 2018. 23 It worked with the New York Times, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and other influential publications in 2017, and has worked with non-media entities such as Amazon.com. 24 ProPublica also launched its first state-based affiliate in 2017, and partnered with the Chicago Tribune to create a Local Reporting Network in 2018. 25

In its 2019 first quarter report and its 2018 990, ProPublica outlined dozens of investigative reporting efforts and projects. It claimed credit for holding a number of elected officials and other influential individuals accountable. 2627

ProPublica has received a number of awards for its work, which ranges from traditional written reporting to video and audio reports. It received the Pulitzer gold medal for Public Service in 2017 in partnership with the New York Daily News after investigating nuisance abatement law abused by the New York City police department. It was one of several awards that year. 28 It received multiple Emmy awards in 2019. 29

ProPublica’s 2019 first-quarter report highlighted a number of investigations. It reconstructed the biggest Navy ship accident in history, provided a research-based graphic which showed that the Internal Revenue Service investigates poor minorities for tax purposes more than upper-income Americans and whites, and incidents during which Border Patrol incidents engaged in high-speed chases. 30

Pushback

IRS Targeting Scandal during 2012 Presidential Elections

A Capital Research Center (CRC) article written in 2016 reported how, in 2013, ProPublica had released a story claiming that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had, “deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election.” 31 32 The ProPublica story continued by stating, “Before the 2012 election, ProPublica devoted months to showing how dozens of social-welfare nonprofits had misled the IRS about their political activity on their applications and tax returns.” 33 Within the same report, ProPublica stated that in November 2012 it had requested 67 but received 31 applications from the IRS office in Cincinnati, Ohio for groups that had applied for tax-exempt status, and that, “nine of those applications had not yet been approved—meaning they were not supposed to be made public. (We made six of those public, after redacting their financial information, deeming that they were newsworthy.)” 34 One of the applications not reviewed was for Crossroads GPS, a conservative organization founded by Karl Rove, the same organization ProPublica would namedrop in a December 2012 op-ed in where it claimed that, “Politically active social welfare nonprofits like Crossroads have proliferated since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in January 2010 opened the door to unlimited political spending by corporations and unions.” 35 36 Later in 2012, Jonathan Collegio, then-spokesperson for Crossroads GPS, sent an email to ProPublica regarding the release of their application information, stating, “As far as we know, the Crossroads application is still pending, in which case it seems that either you obtained whatever document you have illegally, or that it has been approved.” 37

In 2013, Lois Lerner, then-director of the IRS’ Exempt Organizations Division, testified during a congressional hearing for the House Ways and Means Committee on how the IRS had seemingly targeted conservative groups leading up to the 2012 presidential election. It was reported that the IRS’ Cincinnati office had deliberately used, “keywords to target conservative organizations seeking tax exemption. The agency said it used the keywords as a way to quickly flag applications for closer scrutiny because, after the First Amendment-affirming Citizens United ruling in 2010, the IRS was overloaded with applications.” 38 Several of the key words reportedly used by the office for review included “patriot,” “Tea Party,” and “Israel,” while other key terms or details considered for review included “government spending”, “government debt”, and “Obamacare.” 39

The CRC 2016 article also claimed how storage media, electronic backup tapes, and hard drives containing greater information on this topic were destroyed or unable to use. The IRS also claimed that that employees at the Cincinnati office created and applied the list of key words and phrases, to “flag applications and that no upper management, such as Lerner, had instructed them to subject conservative groups to enhanced scrutiny.” 40 According to the CRC article, several of Lerner’s recovered emails showed her calling the Tea Party, “very dangerous” and used obscenities when referring to politically conservative radio hosts.” 41 By 2015, the Justice Department’s investigation concluded that “negligence” by the lower-level IRS employees in Cincinnati had led to the backlog of conservative group applications, and that there was, “substantial evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment and institutional inertia, leading to the belief by many tax-exempt applicants that the IRS targeted them based on their political viewpoints…But poor management is not a crime.” 42 Lerner would later be placed on administrative leave before retiring from her position at the IRS in September 2013. 43

Left-Wing Bias Accusations

ProPublica Illinois reporter Jason Grotto wrote in 2018 that ProPublica Illinois (and, by association, ProPublica) avoids bias by “stick[ing] with the facts.” 44 However, ProPublica has been accused of having left-wing bias in its coverage choices. Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (R) made this accusation on Twitter on December 12, 2018, to which ProPublica responded, “You called us a “biased, left-wing organization.” Actually, we believe in evidence. Hard, indisputable evidence. Carefully gathered and precisely told. Perhaps that’s why our peers have given us 4 Pulitzers, 3 Peabodys, 2 Emmys, 6 Polks, a duPont and a National Magazine Award.” 45

Potential Herb Sandler Wrongdoing

ProPublica has been accused in op-eds at the Daily Caller and the Washington Examiner of ignoring potential and actual wrongdoing by Herb Sandler and others which fund its reporting. The Sandler family made billions off of adjustable rate mortgages, which were later blamed for part of the Great Recession. 464748

Received Donations from Building a Stronger Future

In December 2022, ProPublica released a memo to staff claiming that it would be returning a $1.6 million grant it had received from Building a Stronger Future, the family foundation of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried. According to the memo, both ProPublica president and co-CEO Robin Sparkman and editor-in-chief and co-CEO Stephen Engelberg state that the company would be returning the money as it would not, “seem appropriate to keep these funds.” 49 The memo further states that the $1.6 million would be placed into a separate account until it was, “decided by a bankruptcy judge or other legal authority where the money should be returned.” 50 The $1.6 million grant was intended to be the first of several grant donations provided by Building a Stronger Future, intending to total $5 million over a period of three years, for the purpose of investigating, “ongoing questions about the Covid-19 pandemic, biosecurity and public health preparedness.” 51 Other online publications that accepted donations from Building a Stronger Future include Vox Media, Semafor, and The Intercept. 52

In November 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried announced his resignation as CEO of cryptocurrency company FTX, which had filled for bankruptcy that same month after concerns about fraud and the mishandling of customer deposits led millions of customers to withdraw their assets at the same time. FTX’s collapse drained an estimated $1 trillion from crypto-currency markets, and many customers were left unable to withdraw their savings from FTX accounts. 53 In December 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas after criminal charges were filed by prosecutors for the Southern District of New York. Charges included eight counts of fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and violations of campaign finance laws. 54 As of January 2023, Sam Bankman-Fried has been extradited to the United States and has pled not guilty to all charges. 55

Undisclosed donors

According to 990 financial data, ProPublica received up to $4.9 million in anonymous grants in 2020 whilst another $1.399 million in 2021 was reportedly anonymous, which is out of $35 million in donations that were disclosed that year. According to their 2022 audited financial statement, two anonymous donors to the group combined granted donations adding up to roughly $9.9 million, a quarter of their listed revenue at the time. 56 When asked about the anonymous donations, a spokesperson sent a statement to The New York Press reading, “The funding you cite was reported publicly on our 2022 audited financial statement. Every year, on our IRS Form 990, we list the donors who contributed $5,000 or more…Our 2022 Form 990 will be published this fall, as is our standard practice.” 57 However, they refused to comment on the identity of the two anonymous donors from 2022 as well as the rise in anonymous donations on recent 990 filings. 58

In June 2023, it was reported that several donors to ProPublica had attended a fundraising event in New York City at the home of Mark Colodny, who is a member of ProPublica’s board of directors. Those in attendance included Charles Rockefeller and wife Emily Shippee, Vice President of Spotify’s corporate development Sheila Spence, and chairman emeritus of the Kekst & Co. PR firm Lawrence Rand. 59 Timothy M. Andrews, a former Wall Street Journal editor and ProPublica donor, was present at the event and commented to the New York Post, “I’ve been a donor for a decade and never once have they said anything about what they’re working on in the future…If anyone asks, they always decline, they give zero hint about their future coverage. The ethics of ProPublica… everyone should adopt.” 60

Leadership

ProPublica’s leadership is primarily sourced from traditional metropolitan-liberal news media outlets. 616263

Stephen Engleberg is Editor-in-Chief of ProPublica and its founding Managing Editor. He previously founded the investigative reporting unit at the New York Times and is on the Pulitzer Prize Board and the American Society of News Editors Board. 64

Robin Sparkmann is the president of ProPublica, serving in the position since 2021. Prior to ProPublica she was the founder and CEO of media non-profit StoryCorps and has previously worked for several media organizations including American Lawyer Media, MSNBC, and Newsmax. 65 Richard Tofel was the previous president of ProPublica from 2013 through 2021. Prior to this, he served as General Manager of the group from its founding until 2012. He was formerly assistant publisher at the Wall Street Journal, held several positions at Dow Jones, was Vice President and General Counsel at the Rockefeller Foundation, and was President of the International Freedom Center. 66

Robin Fields serves as a reporter for ProPublica as of 2023, after previously serving as managing editor for the organization from 2013 through 2022. She joined the group in 2008, where she worked as a reporter until her position as managing editor. Prior to ProPublica, she worked as a reporter for The Los Angeles Times. 67

Herbert Sandler was the founding Chairman of ProPublica and served on its Board of Directors until his death in 2019. 68

Paul Steiger is the Founder Emeritus for ProPublica as of 2023. He was the founding editor-in-chief, CEO, and president from 2008 to 2012, and served as Chair of the board from 2013 to 2020. Prior to ProPublica, he was the managing editor for the Wall Street Journal for 16 years. He has also served in several senior capacities for journalism-oriented non-profits, including as chairman of the Pulitzer Prize Board. 69

Paul Sagan is chair of the board for ProPublica since elected in 2017 to replace the late Herbert Sandler. He also served as managing director for venture capital firm General Catalyst until 2020, but as of 2023 he serves as senior advisor and is an executive in residence (XIR) for the company. He was also the director of VMware Inc. and Moderna, Inc. In addition to holding several senior roles in technology and media firms in the past, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee in 2010 and served until 2017. 70

References

  1. ProPublica, About, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/about/
  2. ProPublica, Non-profit data page, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/
  3. ProPublica, Staff, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/staff/
  4. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  5. ProPublica, 2018 Annual Report, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/propublica-2018-annual-report.pdf
  6. ProPublica, 2017 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/propublica-990-2017.pdf
  7. ProPublica, 2018 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/2018-Form-990.pdf
  8. ProPublica, 2017 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/propublica-2017-annual-report.pdf
  9. ProPublica, 2018 Annual Report, Accessed August 15, 2019.https://assets.propublica.org/propublica-2018-annual-report.pdf
  10. ProPublica, 2018 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/2018-Form-990.pdf
  11. Pro Publica, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule B
  12. Richard Tofel, Stephen Engelberg, “The man who made ProPublica possible,” June 5, 2019. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/article/herb-sandler-the-man-who-made-propublica-possible
  13. Sandler Foundation, Grants, Accessed August 19, 2019. https://www.sandlerfoundation.org/grants/
  14. Michelle Celarier, “Paloma Partners’ Donald Sussman has a winning 2018,” January 16, 2019. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1cqh9j5k827kv/Paloma-Partners-Donald-Sussman-Has-a-Winning-2018
  15. Pro Publica, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule B
  16. Kennedy, Dana and Isabel Vincent. “‘Moral force’ ProPublica under fire for taking millions from secret donors they court at ritzy parties.” The New York Post, June 9, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/09/moral-force-propublica-under-fire-for-taking-millions-from-secret-donors/
  17. ProPublica, About, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/about/
  18. ProPublica, Trump Administration, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/topics/trump-administration
  19. Lois Beckett, “Three things we don’t know about Obama’s massive voter database,” March 27, 2012. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/article/three-things-we-dont-know-about-obamas-massive-voter-database
  20. Sarah Smit, “Obama isn’t following through on pardons promise, says his former pardons attorney,” March 30, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2019.  https://www.propublica.org/article/obama-not-following-through-pardons-promise-says-former-pardons-attorney
  21. Derek Kravitz, Al Shaw, Claire Perlman, “How we compiled Trump Town,” March 7, 2018. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-we-compiled-trump-town
  22. ProPublica, Code of Ethics, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/code-of-ethics/
  23. ProPublica, 2018 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/2018-Form-990.pdf
  24. ProPublica, Partners, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/partners/
  25. ProPublica, 2018 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/2018-Form-990.pdf
  26. ProPublica, “January-April 2019 Report to Stakeholders,” Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/propublica-2019-1st-interim-report.pdf.pdf
  27. ProPublica, 2018 Form 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/2018-Form-990.pdf
  28. ProPublica, 2017 Annual Report, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/propublica-2017-annual-report.pdf
  29. ProPublica, Awards, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/awards/
  30. ProPublica, “January-April 2019 Report to Stakeholders,” Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/propublica-2019-1st-interim-report.pdf.pdf
  31. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  32. Barker, Kim and Justin Elliot. “IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups.” ProPublica, May 13, 2013. https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs
  33. Barker, Kim and Justin Elliot. “IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups.” ProPublica, May 13, 2013. https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs
  34. Barker, Kim and Justin Elliot. “IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups.” ProPublica, May 13, 2013. https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs
  35. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  36. Barker, Kim and Justin Elliot. “IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups.” ProPublica, May 13, 2013. https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-office-that-targeted-tea-party-also-disclosed-confidential-docs
  37. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  38. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  39. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  40. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  41. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  42. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  43. Friedman, Joely. “The IRS Attacks the Tea Party.” Capital Research Center, March 11, 2016. https://capitalresearch.org/article/irs_tea_party/
  44. Jason Grotto, “How do we keep bias out of stories?” March 13, 2018. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/article/ask-ppil-on-bias-in-journalism
  45. ProPublica, Twitter page, December 12, 2018. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://twitter.com/propublica/status/1073049549814542341?lang=en
  46. Drew Johnson, “Credibility of Pulitzer Prize takes a hit by rewarding ProPublica’s liberal bias,” May 5, 2017. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://dailycaller.com/2017/05/05/credibility-of-pulitzer-prize-takes-a-hit-by-rewarding-propublicas-liberal-bias/
  47. Ron Arnold, “ProPublica is the left’s biggest muckraker you never heard of,” August 11, 2011. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/propublica-is-the-lefts-biggest-muckraker-you-never-heard-of
  48. John Allasio, “Did adjustable rate mortgages cause the 2008 financial crash,” January 13, 2014. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.quickenloans.com/blog/adjustable-rate-mortgages-2008-financial-crash
  49. Cockburn. “ProPublica to return SBF cash — will other outlets follow suit?” The Spectator, December 21, 2022. https://thespectator.com/topic/propublica-return-sbf-cash-semafor-vox-intercept-follow-suit/
  50. Cockburn. “ProPublica to return SBF cash — will other outlets follow suit?” The Spectator, December 21, 2022. https://thespectator.com/topic/propublica-return-sbf-cash-semafor-vox-intercept-follow-suit/
  51. Cockburn. “ProPublica to return SBF cash — will other outlets follow suit?” The Spectator, December 21, 2022. https://thespectator.com/topic/propublica-return-sbf-cash-semafor-vox-intercept-follow-suit/
  52. Cockburn. “ProPublica to return SBF cash — will other outlets follow suit?” The Spectator, December 21, 2022. https://thespectator.com/topic/propublica-return-sbf-cash-semafor-vox-intercept-follow-suit/
  53. Yaffe-bellany, David. “Embattled Crypto Exchange FTX Files for Bankruptcy.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 11, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/business/ftx-bankruptcy.html.
  54. Ramey, Corrine, James Fanelli, Dave Michaels, Alexander Saeedy, and Vicky Ge Huang. “FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Charged with Criminal Fraud, Conspiracy.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, December 15, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ftxs-sam-bankman-fried-charged-with-criminal-fraud-conspiracy-11670951131.
  55. Rogoswami. “Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges in New York.” CNBC. CNBC, January 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/03/sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-to-fraud-charges-in-new-york.html
  56. Kennedy, Dana and Isabel Vincent. “‘Moral force’ ProPublica under fire for taking millions from secret donors they court at ritzy parties.” The New York Post, June 9, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/09/moral-force-propublica-under-fire-for-taking-millions-from-secret-donors/
  57. Kennedy, Dana and Isabel Vincent. “‘Moral force’ ProPublica under fire for taking millions from secret donors they court at ritzy parties.” The New York Post, June 9, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/09/moral-force-propublica-under-fire-for-taking-millions-from-secret-donors/
  58. Kennedy, Dana and Isabel Vincent. “‘Moral force’ ProPublica under fire for taking millions from secret donors they court at ritzy parties.” The New York Post, June 9, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/09/moral-force-propublica-under-fire-for-taking-millions-from-secret-donors/
  59. Kennedy, Dana and Isabel Vincent. “‘Moral force’ ProPublica under fire for taking millions from secret donors they court at ritzy parties.” The New York Post, June 9, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/09/moral-force-propublica-under-fire-for-taking-millions-from-secret-donors/
  60. Kennedy, Dana and Isabel Vincent. “‘Moral force’ ProPublica under fire for taking millions from secret donors they court at ritzy parties.” The New York Post, June 9, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/09/moral-force-propublica-under-fire-for-taking-millions-from-secret-donors/
  61. ProPublica, Staff, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/staff/
  62. ProPublica, Leadership, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/leadership/
  63. ProPublica, 2018 990, Accessed August 15, 2019. https://assets.propublica.org/2018-Form-990.pdf
  64. “Stephen Engleberg.” ProPublica, Accessed June 2, 2023. https://www.propublica.org/people/stephen-engelberg
  65. “Robin Sparkman.” ProPublica, Accessed June 2, 2023. https://www.propublica.org/people/robin-sparkman
  66. “Richard Tofel.” ProPublica, Accessed June 2, 2023. https://www.propublica.org/people/richard-tofel
  67. “Robin Fields.” ProPublica, Accessed June 2, 2023. https://www.propublica.org/people/robin-fields
  68. Genzlinger, Neil. “Herb Sandler, Banker Who Financed ProPublica, Dies at 87.” New York Times, June 6, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/obituaries/herb-sandler-dead.html
  69. “Leadership.” ProPublica, Accessed June 2, 2023. https://www.propublica.org/leadership/
  70. “Leadership.” ProPublica, Accessed June 2, 2023. https://www.propublica.org/leadership/

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Kerry Smith
    Advisory Board Member
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: February 1, 2008

    • 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
    2020 Dec Form 990 $37,513,092 $30,208,192 $58,666,359 $883,526 Y $36,816,824 $77,000 $146,204 $1,260,183
    2019 Dec Form 990 $39,246,884 $28,630,586 $51,252,809 $748,489 Y $37,366,751 $620,950 $515,219 $1,229,154 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $26,685,933 $24,104,461 $40,988,939 $1,094,094 Y $25,576,127 $302,000 $288,025 $1,205,372 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $43,574,038 $18,290,801 $38,070,942 $746,162 Y $43,063,123 $110,000 $52,985 $1,198,715 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $14,545,521 $13,766,881 $12,429,526 $384,259 Y $13,765,153 $340,000 $2,208 $1,281,333 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $17,046,930 $12,461,149 $11,552,064 $285,437 Y $16,882,164 $60,000 $3,919 $1,272,433 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $10,324,275 $11,486,452 $6,865,118 $184,272 Y $10,169,976 $0 $4,176 $1,343,765 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $13,765,467 $10,332,809 $7,938,469 $95,446 Y $13,678,241 $0 $103 $1,338,618 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $10,955,982 $9,884,450 $4,529,443 $119,078 Y $10,920,019 $0 $50 $0 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $10,142,780 $9,651,650 $3,591,151 $252,318 Y $10,115,367 $0 $83 $1,552,988 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Map image for ProPublica

    ProPublica

    155 Avenue of the Americas 13th Floor
    NEW YORK, NY 10013