Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation

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Joe Moeller

The Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private foundation based in Phoenix, Arizona. The foundation's interests overlap with those of the Koch brothers. Both fund DonorsTrust, Americans for Prosperity, and Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas. Between 1966 to 2005, Moeller held several leadership positions with Koch Industries and Georgia-Pacific, a subsidiary of Koch Industries. [1] Moeller says Charles Koch has been one of "four great mentors" in his life,[2] in addition to former Koch Industries COOs, and Moeller's father.

The foundation has also made contributions to various Catholic churches, schools, charities, community organizations, and universities including the Boys & Girls Club of Scottsdale, George Mason University, Columbia University, University of Notre Dame, and the University of Tulsa, Moeller's alma mater.

Ties to the Koch Brothers

Joe Moeller served as Chief Operating Officer for Koch Industries from 1999 to December 2005, after holding various positions within the company from 1980 to 1992, including President of Koch Ventures, based in Scottsdale. His role in the company helped launch their ventures into international operations, including the Canadian market, according to BusinessWeek.[1] Moeller previously served as the CEO and president of ALEC private sector member Georgia-Pacific, which Koch Industries acquired in 2005.[3]

Koch Wiki

Charles Koch is the right-wing billionaire owner of Koch Industries. As one of the richest people in the world, he is a key funder of the right-wing infrastructure, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network (SPN). In SourceWatch, key articles on Charles Koch and his late brother David include: Koch Brothers, Americans for Prosperity, Stand Together Chamber of Commerce, Stand Together, Koch Family Foundations, Koch Universities, and I360.

Ties to DonorsTrust, a Koch Conduit

DonorsTrust is considered a "donor-advised fund," which means that it divides its funds into separate accounts for individual donors, who then recommend disbursements from the accounts to different non-profits. Funds like DonorsTrust are not uncommon in the non-profit sector, but they do cloak the identity of the original donors because the funds are typically distributed in the name of DonorsTrust rather than the original donors.[4] Very little was known about DonorsTrust until late 2012 and early 2013, when the Guardian and others published extensive reports on what Mother Jones called "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement."[5][6]

Americans for Prosperity, an organization founded and funded by the Koch brothers, received nearly $9.5 million from DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund from 2010 to 2012.[7]

DonorsTrust Funding

The Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation contributed $$800,000 to DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund between 2009 and 2013 (see links to the foundation's IRS forms 990 below).

A report by the Center for Public Integrity exposes a number of DonorsTrust funders, many of which have ties to the Koch brothers. One of the most prominent funders is the Knowledge and Progress Fund, a Charles Koch-run organization and one of the group's largest known contributors, having donated nearly $9 million from 2005 to 2012. Other contributors known to have donated at least $1 million to DonorsTrust include the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation, Searle Freedom Trust, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation.[8]

Since its inception in 1999, DonorsTrust has been used by conservative foundations and individuals to discretely funnel nearly $400 million to like-minded think tanks and media outlets.[8] According to the organization's tax documents, in 2011, DonorsTrust contributed a total of $86 million to conservative organizations. Many recipients had ties to the State Policy Network (SPN), a wide collection of conservative state-based think tanks and media organizations that focus on shaping public policy and opinion. In 2013, the Center for Media and Democracy released a special report on SPN. Those who received DonorsTrust funding included media outlets such as the Franklin Center and the Lucy Burns Institute, as well as think tanks such as SPN itself, the Heartland Institute, Illinois Policy Institute, Independence Institute, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, South Carolina Policy Council, American Legislative Exchange Council, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, and the Cascade Policy Institute.[9]

The Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation contributed $350,000 from 2009 to 2012 to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a conservative group that is an associate member of the State Policy Network (it also contributed $50,000 to the university foundation's general operating fund in 2009 and 2010).[10][11] It also contributed $1,000 to the SPN member Goldwater Institute in 2009 and $150,000 to the Koch-founded and -funded Americans for Prosperity Foundation from 2009 to 2011.[10][11][12]

Core Financials

2015 [13]

  • Total Revenue: $313,315
  • Total Expenses and Disbursements: $284,930
  • Net Assets: $8,209,175

2014 [13]

  • Total Revenue: $192,905
  • Total Expenses and Disbursements: $425,577
  • Net Assets: $8,450,380

Grants Distributed

2013 [13]

  • Total Revenue: $267,981
  • Total Expenses and Disbursements: $478,863
  • Net Assets: $8,817,118

Grants Distributed

2012 [13]

  • Total Revenue: $180,493
  • Total Expenses and Disbursements: $628,645
  • Net Assets: $9,028,000

Grants Distributed

2011 [13]

  • Total Revenue: $806,628
  • Total Expenses and Disbursements: $611,190
  • Net Assets: $9,464,932

Grants Distributed

Other Contributions and Grants

The foundation's contributions from 2009 to 2011 (over $30,000) include:

990-PF Forms

  • Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2015 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing.
  • Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2014 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, June 10, 2015.
  • Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2013 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, May 19, 2014.
  • Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2012 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, August 19, 2013.
  • Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2011 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2012.
  • Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2010 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, September 1, 2011.
  • Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2009 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, September 24, 2010.

Personnel

The Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation's 2015 Form 990 listed three unpaid staff members:

  • Joseph Moeller, President
  • Mary Moeller, Secretary
  • Margaret Sharon Walker, Director

Contact Information

Employer Identification Number (EIN): 83-0411709

Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation
c/o Joseph W. Moeller
2402 E. Esplanade Lane, Unit 902
Phoenix, Arizona 85016-9102
Tel: 602-595-6964

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bloomberg, Company Overview of Koch Industries, Inc.: Joseph W. Moeller, Bloomberg website, Accessed August 8, 2017.
  2. ↑ University of Tulsa Alumni Association, TU Alumni: Joseph Moeller, organizational website, accessed July 2013.
  3. ↑ Andrew Sorkin, Paper Maker Georgia-Pacific to Be Sold to Koch, New York Times, November 14, 2005.
  4. ↑ Rebekah Wilce, A Reporters' Guide to the "State Policy Network" -- the Right-Wing Think Tanks Spinning Disinformation and Pushing the ALEC Agenda in the States, PRWatch.org, April 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ Andy Kroll, Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement, Mother Jones, February 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ Suzanne Goldenberg, "Secret funding helped build vast network of climate denial thinktanks," The Guardian, February 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ Center for Media and Democracy, DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund Grant Recipients, SourceWatch.org, accessed December 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Paul Abowd, Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states, Center for Public Integrity, February 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ Donors Trust, GuideStar.org, IRS form 990, 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2009 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, September 24, 2010.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2010 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing, September 1, 2011.
  12. ↑ Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, 2011 Form 990, foundation's annual IRS filing.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 ProPublica, Joe and Mary Moeller Foundation, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Accessed August 7, 2017.
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