The Quitiplas Foundation is a left-of-center private foundation headquartered in Delaware that funds left-of-center and far-left advocacy groups and organizations. The group held over $10 million in assets at the end of 2022, according to tax filings.

As of June 2024, a large amount of the group’s expenditures were directed towards the Literacy Project, Jewish Voice for Peace, RootsAction Education Fund, and Independent World Television (dba Real News Network). The foundation gave nearly $1.5 million annually to Independent World Television for several years. Several of the groups funded by the foundation, like the media outlets Jacobin and In These Times, are linked to far-left socialist ideologies. The foundation was funded by Thomas M. Scruggs, a retired professor residing in Berkeley, California, with a long history in left-of-center organizing. ^{1 2 3}

Background

The Quitiplas Foundation does not have a public presence. The Foundation was formed by Thomas M Scruggs, Jr., in 2007, and was incorporated in Delaware. A management company, Foundation Source, has handled the books for the organization since the foundation was formed. ⁴

The foundation reported no income in 2007 but received over $11.5 million from Scruggs in 2008 in the form of stocks and bonds. This initial endowment has been the primary source of the foundation’s funds since 2008. The first grantees of the organization included the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Cultural Survival, Independent World Television, the Institute for Public Affairs, The North American Congress on Latin America, and Progressive Inc. ⁵

The name of the organization appears to be a reference to a quitiplas, an instrument made from bamboo used for music and communication in South America. ⁶

Grantmaking

The Quitiplas Foundation has provided funding to many left-of-center and far-left advocacy groups since its founding. The foundation has provided significant funds to Independent World Television, which operates as the Real News Network, a far-left media outlet for which the Quitiplas Foundation’s benefactor Thomas Scruggs was listed as executive producer. The foundation granted nearly $1.5 million to Real News Network in 2021. ^{7 8 9 10}   

The foundation has also funded Jewish Voice for Peace, providing $200,000 to the anti-Israel group in from 2019 through 2021. ¹¹

Other notable groups that have received funding from the foundation include the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Sierra Club Foundation, Greenpeace, In These Times, Jacobin, Public Citizen, and Common Dreams. ^{12 13 14}

People

Thomas Scruggs is the only individual listed in connection with the Quitiplas Foundation and funded the foundation in 2008 with a $11.5 million endowment. Scruggs has a long career in media and left-of-center organizing. He was a professor of music at the University of Iowa from 1991 to 2009 and is described as an “anthromusicologist,” having studied and worked in media and academia throughout South and Central America. Since his retirement from the University of Iowa he has resided in California and he was listed as director of student programs for the Contra Costa County Public School district in 2022, which earned him $199,000 in total pay. ^{15 16 17 18}

1. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202243279349100704/full
2. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202113199349106526/full
3. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202333209349100708/full
4. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2007.  https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/261622017/2009_12_PF%2F26-1622017_990PF_200712
5. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2008. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/261622017/2009_12_PF%2F26-1622017_990PF_200812
6. “Quitiplas.” History Museum of Canada. https://www.historymuseum.ca/collections/artifact/209474
7. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202243279349100704/full
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202113199349106526/full
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202333209349100708/full
10. “About.” Real News Network. Accessed June 16, 2024. https://therealnews.com/about?form=FUNGWBAWASM
11. “Jewish Voice for Peace.” NGO Monitor. Accessed June 16, 2024. https://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/jewish-voice-for-peaces-funding-network/
12. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202243279349100704/full
13. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202113199349106526/full
14. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261622017/202333209349100708/full
15. “TM Scruggs.” Afro Pop. Accessed June 16, 2024. https://afropop.org/articles/scholar-tm-scruggs
16. “TM Scruggs.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 16, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/t-m-scruggs-78226a7/
17. “T.M. Scruggs.” United for Community Radio. Accessed June 16, 2024. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=3026
18. Contra Costa County Office of Education: Thomas M. Scruggs.”  Transparent California. Accessed June 16, 2024.  https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2022/school-districts/contra-costa/contra-costa-county-office-of-education/m-scruggs-thomas/