Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
When did major donors like Koch network or major tech firms donate to Project 2025 (year and month)?
Executive summary
Coverage in the provided reporting shows large sums from Leonard Leo’s and the Koch networks flowing to Project 2025 advisory groups, with reporting dating those flows to 2021–2022 and headlines published in March–July 2024; specific month-by-month gift dates for “major donors like Koch network or major tech firms” are not enumerated in the available sources [1] [2]. Accountable.US/NBC reporting cites “since 2021” totals of roughly $50–55 million from Leo- and Koch-linked networks to Project 2025 advisory groups and identifies over $4.4 million from the Koch network in 2022 [1] [2].
1. What the key outlets actually report about timing
NBC’s reporting — drawing on Accountable.US’s review of tax documents — frames the major donor flows to Project 2025 advisory groups as occurring “since 2021,” and its March 2024 story does not provide a single month for each donation; instead it aggregates sums and highlights 2022 as a year when the Heritage Foundation’s fundraising and allied donations surged [1]. Accountable.US’s July 2024 write-up likewise highlights a 2022 total for the Koch conduit Stand Together Trust (over $4.4 million) but does not give specific months for those transfers [2].
2. What we can say about the Koch network contributions
Multiple pieces in the set link Koch-linked foundations and donor conduits to Project 2025 coalition partners and advisory groups, and specify multi-year giving totals rather than individual check dates. For example, Accountable.US reports that the Koch network directed “over $4.4 million in 2022” to Project 2025 advisory groups via Stand Together Trust, while broader reporting ties Koch-related support to the initiative across 2021–2022 [2] [1]. The Guardian and other background pieces document long-term Koch funding to conservative think tanks that later participated in Project 2025’s coalition, but do not provide discrete donation months [3].
3. Leonard Leo’s network: aggregated timing, not line-item dates
Reporting on Leonard Leo’s funding likewise gives totals “since 2021” — for instance, NBC and Accountable.US cite roughly $50.7 million to $55 million flowing from Leo-linked entities to groups advising Project 2025 — but again these are aggregate figures across multiple years and donors rather than month-stamped contributions [1] [2]. DeSmog’s deeper profile, dated March 2025 in the dataset, enumerates major gifts to partner groups across recent years but does not list calendar months for each donation [4].
4. What the sources do not report — and why that matters
None of the provided sources in this set publish a month-by-month donation timeline for major donors to Project 2025; instead they rely on tax filings and nonprofit disclosures to produce multi-year aggregates [1] [2]. Because many conservative donor networks route money through donor-advised funds, trusts and intermediary nonprofits, public disclosures often lag or report sums annually, making precise month-level dating difficult from those documents alone [1] [2].
5. About “major tech firms” and Project 2025 contributions
Available sources in your set do not mention specific major tech firms (for example, Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft) donating to Project 2025 advisory groups, nor do they provide month-specific donations from such firms; the reporting focuses on conservative donors and dark-money networks [1] [2]. Therefore, month-and-year details for tech-firm donations are not found in the current reporting (not found in current reporting).
6. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas
Accountable.US and NBC frame the disclosures as evidence of significant “dark money” influence on Project 2025 and emphasize the policy implications of donor-backed planning for a future administration; those outlets rely on tax-document analysis and advocacy sources [1] [2]. Other outlets in the dataset (e.g., The Guardian, DeSmog, Mother Jones) emphasize long-term Koch influence on conservative institutions and the climate-policy stakes tied to Project 2025, again focusing on multi-year ties rather than discrete donation months [3] [4] [5]. Readers should note the implicit agendas: Accountable.US and some outlets are advocacy-oriented and highlight donor influence as a democratic risk, while profile pieces document influence over long timeframes without contesting the aggregated figures [1] [2] [3].
7. Practical next steps to get month-level dates
To obtain month-and-year specifics for individual donations you would need the original IRS Form 990 schedules, grant reports from intermediary donors (e.g., Stand Together Trust, The 85 Fund), or direct disclosures from recipient organizations; the pieces cited here are summaries based on those filings but do not reproduce month-by-month lines [1] [2]. The current reporting identifies 2021–2022 as the operative window for major flows and gives 2022 totals for the Koch conduit, but it does not provide the granular timestamps you asked for [1] [2].
If you want, I can: (a) list the recipient organizations named in the cited pieces so you can search their IRS filings, or (b) draft FOIA/records requests or a list of exact Form 990 line items to check for month-specific grant dates — say which option you prefer.