Diana Davis Spencer Foundation

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The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation (DDSF) is a right-wing, Maryland-based 501(c)(3) private foundation which has been tax exempt since 2007.[1]

DDSF was formed with assets from the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation and the Kathryn W. Davis Foundation. Diana Davis Spencer, the executive chairman of the foundation, is the daughter of Shelby Cullom Davis and Kathryn W. Davis.[2]

Between 2014-2018, DDSF maintained between $1.29 billion and $1.49 billion in assets. In 2015, it was listed as the 73th largest foundation in the United States.[3] It has been called "the biggest pot of conservative money you've never heard of".[4]

DDSF's ideology draws from the political views of its president’s father, Shelby Cullom Davis, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, chair of the Heritage Foundation, governor of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, and president of the Sons of the Revolution.[4]

Describing its "Founding Values", DDSF writes: "Our Founding Fathers enshrined freedom, limited government, and individual responsibility in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They knew that these values would guide future generations to prosperity and happiness. Today, the growth of big government endangers these principles. Society increasingly depends on fiscally unsustainable entitlement and welfare programs. To guarantee their political, social, and economic freedoms, Americans must rediscover and apply their founding values. We’re helping them do so through our support to a variety of research, advocacy, and educational organizations."[5]

News and Controversies

Financial Support for Organizations Pushing Voter Suppression

In March 2022, it was reported by the Center for Media and Democracy that the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation was funding groups promoting voter suppression policies across the country. In their analysis of the foundation IRS fillings, it was discovered they gave $3.7 million dollars to 13 voter suppression groups. [6]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation's special advisor, Nisi Hamilton, attended the American Legislative Exchange Council's 2020 States and Nation Policy Summit. She participated in sessions named "CARE Constituent Management Training", "Innovation Roundtable", "Workshop: AB5/ABC/Prop-22... What’s Happening, What’s Next and What you Need to Know in the States and DC?", "General Session - Morning", "Workshop: Against Critical Theory’s Onslaught: Reclaiming Education and the American Dream", "Thursday General Session - Afternoon", "Education and Workforce Development Task Force Meeting", "Workshop: Stop the Cancel Culture, Before it Stops You!", and "Homeland Security Task Force Meeting".

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Ties to the State Policy Network

The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation contributed over $71.8 million to the State Policy Network and its "affiliate" and "associate" members between 2014-2018.[7][8][9][10][11]

Diana Davis Spencer, the foundation's executive chairman, is on the board of visitors of SPN member Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. Spencer's daughter Abby Spencer Moffat, the foundation's chief executive officer and president, was on the board of two SPN members, the Heritage Foundation and the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, as of 2018. SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. As of June 2024, SPN's membership totals 167. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2022 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $152 million.[12] Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the Koch brothers and the national right-wing network of funders.[13]

In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"[14]

A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.[15]

Grants Distributed

2022[16]

  • 1789 Fund: $25,000
  • Acadia Repertory Theatre: $2,000
  • Acton Academy Foundation: $100,000
  • After-School All-Stars: $250,000
  • Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization: $45,000
  • American Council of Trustees and Alumni: $1,000,000
  • American Strategy Group: $200,000
  • American Swiss Foundation: $450,000
  • America's Future Foundation: $200,000
  • Anne Arundel County Public Schools: $56,000
  • Army Historical Foundation: $150,000
  • Asia America Initiative: $350,000
  • Bar Harbor Food Pantry: $25,000
  • Becket Fund: $150,00
  • Best Friends Foundation: $600,000
  • Bethesda Green: $150,000
  • Boost Others: $50,000
  • Bullis School: $100,000
  • Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation: $100,000
  • Capital Area Food Bank: $150,000
  • Capital Research Center: $400,000
  • Caring for Military Families the Elizabeth Dole Foundation: $1,030,000
  • Case Western Reserve University: $400,000
  • Center for a Secure Free Society: $3,000
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies: $200,000
  • Certell: $160,000
  • Chapel Haven: $10,000
  • Charlotte Lozier Institute: $1,000,000
  • Children's National Medical Center: $400,000
  • College of the Atlantic: $50,000
  • Collegiate Directions: $300,000
  • Constituting America: $300,000
  • Consumer Action Network: $475,000
  • Council for the Advancement of Science Writing: $10,000
  • Culture Wise Studies: $450,000
  • Daily Caller News Foundation: $10,000
  • Darrow School: $500,000
  • Dartmouth College: $300,000
  • DonorsTrust: $14,000,000
  • Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen: $20,000
  • Encounter for Culture and Education: $65,000
  • Enough Is Enough: $400,000
  • Forge Leadership Network: $200,000
  • Foundation Fighting Blindness: $1,000,000
  • Foundation for Cultural Review: $75,000
  • Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education: $1,000,000
  • Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: $300,000
  • Free to Choose Network: $800,000
  • Freedom Alliance: $210,000
  • Friends of Acadia: $10,000
  • Fund for American Studies: $300,000
  • Gatestone Institute: $125,000
  • George Mason University: $200,000
  • Gloucester Institute: $500,000
  • Heritage Foundation: $1,500,000
  • Hillsdale College: $2,000,000
  • Hudson Institute: $125,000
  • In Series: $2,000
  • Independent Women's Forum: $1,930,000
  • Informing America: $1,500,000
  • Institute for Humane Studies: $100,000
  • Institute for Justice: $200,000
  • Institute for Responsible Citizenship: $500,000
  • Institute for the Study of War: $50,000
  • Intercollegiate Studies Institute: $230,000
  • International Spy Museum: $300,000
  • International Student House of Washington DC: $25,000
  • Island Connections: $5,000
  • Island Housing Trust: $50,000
  • Jack Kemp Foundation: $75,000
  • Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs: $300,000
  • Job Creators Network Foundation: $1,000,000
  • John Jay Institute: $75,000
  • Jubilee Jobs: $50,000
  • Keystone Service Systems: $100,000
  • Land Conservation Assistance Network: $75,000
  • Leadership Institute: $250,000
  • Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary: $290,000
  • Maine Seacoast Mission: $300,000
  • Maplebrook School: $600,000
  • Masters School: $20,050,000
  • Media Research Center: $2,050,000
  • Middle East Children's Institute: $50,000
  • Middle East Media and Research Institute: $$1,100,000
  • Mount Desert Island Hospital: $$350,000
  • Mount Desert Island YMCA: $25,000
  • Moving Picture Institute: $500,000
  • National Fatherhood Initiative: $75,000
  • National History Day: $100,000
  • National Park Trust: $260,000
  • National Taxpayers Union Foundation: $200,000
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation: $15,000
  • Network of Enlightened Women: $150,000
  • Northeast Harbor Library: $40,000
  • Operation Opportunity Foundation DBA the Warrior Scholar Project: $300,000
  • Operation Recovery: $50,000
  • Our Community Salutes - USA: $800,000
  • Pacific Legal Foundation: $150,000
  • Pacific Research Institute: $100,000
  • Parents Defending Education: $150,000
  • Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum: $100,000
  • Plimoth Patuxet Museum: $400,000
  • Prager University Foundation: $300,000
  • Republic Book Publishers: $150,000
  • Samaritan's Purse: $150,000
  • Shalem Foundation: $200,000
  • Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation: $100,000
  • Sister States of Maryland: $200,000
  • Smithsonian Institution: $20,000
  • Society of Mayflower Descendants of New York: $5,000
  • Society of the Four Arts: $25,000
  • Speech First: $250,000
  • Steamboat Institute: $100,000
  • Suburban Hospital Foundation: $250,000
  • Success Academy Charter School: $10,000
  • Teneo Network: $500,000
  • Texas A&M University: $7,000,000
  • The Institute for Family Studies: $100,000
  • The Jackson Laboratory: $150,000
  • The National World War II Museum: $50,000
  • Tim Tebow Foundation: $2,500,000
  • Trust for the National Mall: $50,000
  • US Foundation for the Commemoration of the World Wars: $250,000
  • V5 Initiative: $200,000
  • Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation: $910,000
  • Washington Tennis & Education Foundation: $200,000
  • Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: $400,000
  • Young Americans Against Socialism: $150,000

2021[17]

  • Acton Academy Foundation: $50,000
  • After-School All-Stars: $250,000
  • Aid To The Church In Need: $5,000
  • American Endeavor: $20,000
  • American Strategy Group: $200,000
  • American Studies Center: $50,000
  • American Swiss Foundation: $225,000
  • America’s Future Foundation: $160,000
  • Anne Arundel County Public Schools: $25,000
  • Asia America Initiative: $375,000
  • Atlas Economic Research Foundation: $50,000
  • Bar Harbor Food Pantry: $5,000
  • Becket Fund: $100,000
  • Best Friends Foundation: $300,000
  • Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad: $60,000
  • Bullis School: $100,000
  • Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation: $100,000
  • Capital Area Food Bank: $150,000
  • Capital Research Center: $350,000
  • Center For A Secure Free Society: $100,000
  • Center For Education Reform: $250,000
  • Chapel Haven Incorporated: $660,000
  • Code 3 Association: $55,000
  • College Of The Atlantic: $100,000
  • Collegiate Directions: $300,000
  • Community Resource Exchange: $5,000
  • Culture Wise Studies: $250,000
  • Dartmouth College: $300,000
  • Donorstrust: $7,250,000
  • Earth University Foundation: $125,000
  • Encounter For Culture And Education: $30,000
  • Episcopal Diocese Of Washington: $25,000
  • Essentials In Education: $200,000
  • For Love Of Children: $25,000
  • Foundation For American Content And Entertainment: $500,000
  • Foundation For Cultural Review: $30,000
  • Foundation For Economic Education: $150,000
  • Foundation For Individual Rights In Education: $200,000
  • Free To Choose Network: $100,000
  • Freedom Alliance: $200,000
  • Fund For American Studies: $300,000
  • Gatestone Institute: $100,000
  • Gcsen Foundation: $300,000
  • George Mason University: $650,000
  • Global Good Fund: $10,000
  • Government Accountability Institute: $375,000
  • Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: $300,000
  • Heritage Foundation: $1,500,000
  • Hire Heroes Usa: $5543,195
  • Independent Women’s Forum: $500,000
  • Informing America Inc: $1,500,000
  • Inova Health System Foundation: $100,000
  • Institute For Justice: $150,000
  • Institute For Responsible Citizenship: $500,000
  • Intercollegiate Studies Institute: $200,000
  • International Spy Museum: $200,000
  • Investigative Project On Terrorism Foundation: $225,000
  • Iona Senior Services: $5,000
  • Island Housing Trust: $50,000
  • Jackson Laboratory: $2,000,000
  • James Wilson Institute For Natural Rights And The American Founding: $100,000
  • Jewish Institute For National Security Affairs: $300,000
  • Keystone Service Systems: $100,000
  • King Baudouin Foundation United States: $12,000
  • Land Conservation Assistance Network: $75,000
  • Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund: $300,000
  • Lawyers Democracy Fund: $275,000
  • Leadership Institute: $100,000
  • Leukemia And Lymphoma Society: $1,000
  • Lifelight Foundation: $200,000
  • Lincoln Network: $100,000
  • Maine Seacoast Mission: $250,000
  • Maplebrook School: $100,000
  • Media Research Center: $3,000,000
  • Middle East Children’s Institute: $50,000
  • Middle East Media And Research Institute: $1,000,000
  • Monpelier Foundation: $25,000
  • Mount Desert Festival Of Chamber Music: $15,000
  • Moving Picture Institute: $400,000
  • Mt. Desert Island Hospital: $300,000
  • Mysa School: $800,000
  • National Association Of Scholars: $200,000
  • National Fatherhood Initiative: $60,000
  • National Forest Foundation: $5,000
  • National History Day: $150,000
  • National Park Trust: $50,000
  • National Rehabilitation Hospital: $100,000
  • National Right To Work Legal Defense And Education Foundation: $150,000
  • National Taxpayers Union Foundation: $250,000
  • National Trust For Historic Preservation: $10,000
  • Neighborhood House Club: $100,000
  • Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship: $2,000,000
  • Network Of Enlightened Women: $120,000
  • Nfte New Haven Corporation: $45,000
  • Northeast Harbor Library: $35,000
  • Opera Club Of The Villages: $5,000
  • Operation Opportunity Foundation Aka The Warrior Scholar Project: $250,000
  • Pacific Legal Foundation: $100,000
  • Pacific Research Institute: $75,000
  • Parkinson Foundation Of The National Capital Area: $5,000
  • Penfaulkner Foundation: $25,000
  • Prager University Foundation: $250,000
  • Rare Crossroads: $100,000
  • Rising Tide Capital: $800,000
  • Samaritan’s Purse: $100,000
  • Shalem Foundation: $100,000
  • Sister States Of Maryland: $150,000
  • Society Of The Four Arts: $25,000
  • Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital: $110,000
  • Special Operations Warrior Foundation: $150,000
  • Speech First: $100,000
  • Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation: $5,000
  • Suburban Hospital Foundation: $200,000
  • Teneo Network: $225,000
  • Texas A&M University: $7,000,000
  • The Salvation Army: $50,000
  • United Service Organization: $250,000
  • Us Foundation For The Commemoration Of The World Wars: $250,000
  • Victims Of Communism Memorial Foundation: $700,000
  • Washington Tennis And Education Foundation: $100,000
  • Wheaton College: $10,005,000
  • White House Historical Association National Council: $25,000
  • Woodrow Wilson International Center For Scholars: $100,000
  • Woodson Center: $250,000
  • Yale New Haven Hospital: $50,000

2020[18]

2019[19]

2018[7]

2017[8]

  • Acton Academy Foundation: $60,000
  • After-School All-Stars: $260,000
  • American Camp Association: $5,000
  • American Council of Trustees and Alumni: $10,000
  • America’s Future Foundation: $150,000
  • Anne Arundel County Public Schools: $34,270
  • Ashley Bryan Center: $10,000
  • Becket: $15,000
  • Best Friends Foundation: $400,000
  • Bike to the Beach: $10,000
  • Capital Speakers Club: $10,000
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies: $25,000
  • Chapel Haven Incorporated: $5,040,000
  • Charlotte Lozier Institute: $75,000
  • City Year: $755,000
  • Code 3 Association: $525,000
  • Culture Wise Studies: $200,000
  • Daniel Morgan Academy: $700,000
  • Documentary Foundation: $25,000
  • DonorsTrust: $9,000,000
  • Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: $200,000
  • French American Cultural Foundation: $25,000
  • Friends of Instituto Bruno Leoni: $10,000
  • Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship Network Foundation: $600,000
  • Gloucester Institute: $10,000
  • Hire Heros USA: $1,700,000
  • Hopecam: $15,000
  • Jesup Memorial Library: $1,500
  • Judicial Watch: $150,000
  • Maine Sea Coast Missionary Society: $50,000
  • Masters School: $80,000
  • Media Research Center: $15,000
  • Montgomery County Police Department: $68,000
  • Mount Desert Island Hospital: $50,000
  • Moving Picture Institute: $50,000
  • Mysa School: $1,500,000
  • National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship: $10,000
  • Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship: $40,000
  • New Criterion: $5,000
  • One Generation Away: $5,000
  • Parentjobnet: $822,393
  • Pen/Faulkner Foundation: $10,000
  • Personal Care Products Council Foundation: $5,000
  • Plimoth Plantation: $200,000
  • Rice University: $50,000
  • Rising Tide Capital: $2,000,000
  • Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park: $80,000
  • St. James School: $15,000
  • Teach for America: $5,000
  • Turning Point USA: $300,000
  • United States Commemoration of the World Wars: $500,000
  • University System of New Hampshire: $5,000
  • Young Leader’s Alumni Council: $120,000

2016[9]

2015[10]

2014[11]

2000-2014

Core Financials

2022[16]

  • Total Revenue: $63,415,278
  • Total Expenses: $141,986,742
  • Net Assets: $1,239,406,244

2021[17]

  • Total Revenue: $31,448,274
  • Total Expenses: $65,177,616
  • Net Assets: $1,510,145,435

2020[18]

  • Total Revenue: $43,316,651
  • Total Expenses: $124,327,522
  • Net Assets: $1,476,466,713

2019[19]

  • Total Revenue: $41,125,334
  • Total Expenses: $46,232,334
  • Net Assets: $1,443,215,686

2018[7]

  • Total Revenue: $55,171,401
  • Total Expenses: $46,109,018
  • Net Assets: $1,296,566,223

2017[8]

  • Total Revenue: $31,791,682
  • Total Expenses: $40,734,826
  • Net Assets: $1,371,150,036

2016[9]

  • Total Revenue: $15,761,822
  • Total Expenses: $142,573,312
  • Net Assets: $1,296,756,869

2015[10]

  • Total Revenue: $100,073,347
  • Total Expenses: $69,402,577
  • Net Assets: $1,412,225,072

2014[11]

  • Total Revenue: $156,450,491
  • Total Expenses: $25,851,883
  • Net Assets: $1,459.949.455

Personnel

Staff

As of March 2022:[20]

Former Staff

  • Alan Kelly
  • Christopher Burn

External Advisors to the Foundation

As of March 2022:[21]

  • Bob Scherer, Graystone Consulting
  • Maureen Shuler, Graystone Consulting
  • Ross Charkatz, Graystone Consulting
  • Aashish Goel, Graystone Consulting
  • John Langan, CPA, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
  • Victor Chang, Ivins, Phillips & Barker

Board of Trustees and Committee Members

As of March 2022:[21]

  • Diana Davis Spencer, Executive Chairman
  • Abby Spencer Moffat, CEO and President
  • Kimberly F. Lamanna, Trustee
  • Harrison Howard, Independent Trustee
  • Christopher Burn, Audit & Investment Committee Member

Contact Information

Diana Davis Spencer Foundation
3 Bethesda Metro Center
Bethesda, MD 20814

EIN: 20-3672969
Website: https://ddsfoundation.org/
Web contact form: https://ddsfoundation.org/contact-us/
Phone: (301) 961-4000

Articles and Resources

IRS Form 990 Filings

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Articles

Related SourceWatch

References

  1. Guidestar, Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, organizational website, accessed March 17, 2021.
  2. Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, About Us, organizational website, accessed March 17, 2021.
  3. Foundation Center, Top 100 U.S. Foundations by Asset Size, organizational list, accessed March 22, 2021.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Philip Rojc, "Take a Look at the Biggest Pot of Conservative Money You've Never Heard Of", Inside Philanthropy, January 11, 2017, accessed March 23, 2021.
  5. Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, Founding Values, organizational website, accessed March 17, 2021.
  6. CMD, [1], "Exposed by CMD", Accessed May 23rd, 2023."
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2018 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, October 31, 2019.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2017 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 9, 2018.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2016 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 14, 2017.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2015 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 11, 2016.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2014 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 16, 2015.
  12. David Armiak, State Policy Network and Affiliates Raises $152 Million Annually to Push Right-Wing Policies, ExposedbyCMD, September 30, 2022.
  13. Rebekah Wilce, Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
  14. Jane Mayer, Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, The New Yorker, November 15, 2013.
  15. Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenberg, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, The Guardian, December 5, 2013.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2022 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 9, 2023.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2021 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 12, 2022.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2020 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 12, 2021.
  19. 19.0 19.1 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, 2019 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 11, 2020.
  20. Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, Our People, organizational website, accessed March 28, 2022.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS, Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, accessed March 28, 2022.