Our Mission
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.
Our Funding
Prior to fiscal 2010, we were supported entirely by three sources: funds from the APPC’s own resources (specifically an endowment created in 1993 by the Annenberg Foundation at the direction of the late Walter Annenberg, and a 1995 grant by the Annenberg Foundation to fund APPC’s Washington, D.C., base); additional funds from the Annenberg Foundation; and grants from the Flora Family Foundation. We do not seek and have never accepted, directly or indirectly, any funds from corporations, unions, partisan organizations or advocacy groups.
In 2010, we began accepting donations from individual members of the public for the first time, responding to many unsolicited offers of support from our subscribers. We launched our first public appeal for donations in April 2010.
At that time we also decided to disclose our finances in greater detail, so that our readers may judge for themselves whether or not any of those individual donations could influence us.
Our policy is to disclose the identity of any individual donor giving $1,000 or more. We also disclose the total amount, average amount and number of individual donations.
Note: In addition to the sums reported here, FactCheck.org receives in-kind support from the Annenberg Public Policy Center including office space, utilities and technical support from APPC staff, and salary for one election-year staff employee. We do not attempt to assign a dollar value to these in-kind services, which are funded from the APPC’s own resources.
Financial Disclosure:
Fiscal Year 2013, First Quarter
(3 months ending Sept. 30, 2012)Annenberg Foundation: $284,911
Individual donors: $18,208.50
During this 3-month period, we received a total of 158 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was a bequest of $6,181. The average individual donation was $115.24, and half of our individual donations during this period were $25 or less.
The individual donors included these who gave $1,000 or more:
Estate of Marvin London, Portland, ME (bequest): $6,181
Paul Spraos, New York, NY: $2,500
Michael Powell, Sherwood, OR: $1,000
Parke Terry, Sacramento, CA: $1,000Fiscal Year 2012
(12 months ending June 30, 2012)Annenberg Foundation: $849,802
Individual donors: $107,644
During this 12-month period, we received a total of 2,183 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was $2,500. The average individual donation was $49.31, and half of our individual donations during this period were $25 or less.
The individual donors included these who gave $1,000 or more:
Howard and Penny Burt Family Fund: $2,500
Michael A. Ramey, Seattle, Wash.: $1,000
Allen Stenger, Alamogordo, N.M.: $1,000
Thomas Ferguson, Nolanville, Texas: $1,000
David Joerg, New York, N.Y.: $1,000
Leighton Moss, Houston, Texas: $1,000
Fiscal Year 2012, Fourth Quarter
(3 months ending June 30, 2012)Annenberg Foundation: $197,699
Individual donors: $5,149
During this three-month period, we received a total of 70 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was $1,000. The average individual donation was $73.55, and half of our individual donations during this period were $25 or less.
The individual donors included these who gave $1,000 or more:
Michael A. Ramey, Seattle, Wash.: $1,000
Allen Stenger, Alamogordo, N.M.: $1,000
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