Who funded the no kings protests
Executive summary
Reporting and public records show the No Kings demonstrations were organized by a coalition led by Indivisible and more than 200 allied groups; fundraising came from a mix of progressive foundations, unions, grassroots donations and grants such as a reported $3 million Open Society grant to Indivisible — but claims that billionaires spent $300 million directly to fund the protests are disputed by fact-checkers and conflation of broader grant flows is reported [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. Who the organizers publicly say they are
Organizers describe No Kings as a coordinated movement run by Indivisible together with a coalition of over 200 partner organizations including MoveOn, ACLU, labor unions and civil-rights groups; Mobilize listings and major coverage note Indivisible’s central role in managing communications and local events [6] [2] [5].
2. The role of foundations and reported grants
Multiple outlets report that progressive foundations supported organizations involved in No Kings. Reporting cites a $3 million grant from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations to Indivisible that was described by the foundation as support for social‑welfare activities — grants that were not explicitly labeled as “No Kings” funding but flowed to an organization central to the protests [3] [4].
3. Unions, grassroots donations and partner groups contributed resources
Coverage from Hindustan Times and local outlets describes funding coming from a mix of progressive foundations, unions and grassroots donations, and lists partners such as the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Teachers among organizations providing logistical and financial support to protest activities [2] [4].
4. Claims of massive billionaires’ spending and fact‑checks
A viral claim that billionaires spent nearly $300 million to fund No Kings has been debunked by Snopes, which found those figures conflated general grantmaking and political spending with direct expenditures to stage the protests; Snopes states billionaires did not spend $300 million specifically on No Kings [1].
5. Political and media framing differs sharply
Government officials and partisan outlets presented competing narratives: some Republican officials and conservative outlets suggested the protests were “politically orchestrated,” tied to antifa or funded by left‑wing donors [7] [8] [9]. Mainstream outlets and civil‑liberties groups framed No Kings as large-scale civic participation organized by established progressive groups [5] [10].
6. What the sources explicitly confirm — and what they don’t
Available sources confirm Indivisible’s organizing role, a network of partner groups and at least one multi‑million dollar grant from Open Society to Indivisible [6] [3] [4]. Available sources do not mention a definitive list showing billionaires directly wiring $300 million to fund protest logistics, and fact‑checks say such a direct $300M spend did not occur [1].
7. Why narratives diverge: incentives and implicit agendas
Conservative officials and outlets emphasize outside funding and antifa involvement to delegitimize the protests and shift focus from protesters’ grievances [7] [8]. Progressive and neutral outlets emphasize coalition organizing and grassroots turnout to portray the events as authentic civic mobilization [5] [2]. Fact‑checkers aim to correct inflated monetary claims by tracing grant flows and noting when funds went to organizations rather than to discrete protest operations [1].
8. Bottom line for readers
The best-supported account in current reporting: No Kings was organized by Indivisible and a broad coalition of groups and was supported by a mixture of grants (including an Open Society grant reported at $3 million), unions and grassroots donations; sweeping claims that billionaires directly spent $300 million to stage the protests are contradicted by fact‑checks and conflation analyses [6] [3] [4] [1].
Limitations: source coverage is uneven on exact dollar flows and accounting; available sources do not provide a full audited ledger of every contribution or expense tied to every local event (not found in current reporting).