View source for The Koch 130: How the billionaire brothers have spread their web of influence across every sector of American society.

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[[Category:Charles and David Koch]]
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{{DES | des = "This project, an effort to track the breadth of the Kochs' philanthropic influence, builds on several years of reporting, news stories, as well as data from tax filings and the organizations' websites." | show=}}
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In 1958, Fred Koch, the founder of the Midwestern oil and cattle ranching empire that would become Koch Industries, became a charter member of the John Birch Society, the fiercely anti-communist organization whose members believed Soviet influence was infecting all aspects of American society. The Birchers attempted to place their weight on "the political scales…as fast and as far" as they could, but their movement was quickly sidelined to the ideological fringe. Two of Fred's four sons, Charles and David, have carried forward the conservative torch, and they have succeeded where their father and his allies failed. Their father's company, meanwhile, has grown into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate that is the second-largest private corporation in the country.

Though the Koch surname has become synonymous with political spending, the family's philanthropy has flowed to a wide range of causes. A significant portion has gone to think tanks and policy institutes that advance the brothers' free-market beliefs. And Charles Koch has lavished millions on universities to bolster their study and teaching of this school of economics. But Koch contributions have also established cancer research centers, funded ballets and preserved cultural institutions, and provided grants and scholarships to students.

This project, an effort to track the breadth of the Kochs' philanthropic influence, builds on several years of reporting (which culminated in Dan Schulman's book, Sons of Wichita, and our cover story "Koch vs. Koch"), news stories, as well as data from tax filings and the organizations' websites. (See more about our methodology below.) What follows is by no means exhaustive. It's the first round of a project that we'll continue to expand and update; please leave suggestions and tips in the comments.

Family Foundations
The Kochs have a handful of family foundations, whose giving ranges from public policy and political advocacy to cancer research and wildlife conservation. The Charles Koch Foundation has donated millions to universities, think tanks, and public policy shops to advance his libertarian philosophy. David Koch's foundation and personal philanthropy, while supporting similar causes as his brother, has centered on medical research and the arts. The Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation (run by Elizabeth Koch, Charles' wife) donates to Kansas-based arts and education initiatives, and the Claude R. Lambe Foundation (run by Charles) contributes largely to free-market-minded think tanks and institutes. The Knowledge and Progress Fund, a private foundation run by Charles, has given almost exclusively to Donors Trust, an organization that spreads donations around to ahost of right-leaning groups and preserves the anonymity of its donors.

Dollar figures show the amount each group has received from key Koch organizations.

Click a group for more details.

Charles Koch Foundation
Claude R. Lambe Foundation
David H. Koch Foundation and Personal Philanthropy
Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation: $1,557,000
Knowledge and Progress Fund
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Libertarian Roots
Fred Koch, the family patriarch, staunchly opposed big government. His worldview colored by his experiences working in Josef Stalin’s USSR, Koch was an avowed conservative who backed the presidential candidacy of Barry Goldwater and was a leading member of the anti-Communist John Birch Society. Deeply influenced by the political views of their father, Charles and (later) David Koch grew deeply involved with budding libertarian movement (David Koch even ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1980). Though the Kochs would later be known as Republican kingmakers, their prolific giving to libertarian causes helped launch libertarianism into a mass movement. Charles Koch was funding so many libertarian operations at some point that an activist dubbed his many-tentacled operation the “Kochtopus.” Here are a few of the organizations the Kochs sponsored to get the libertarian movement off the ground.

Dollar figures show the amount each group has received from key Koch organizations.

Click a group for more details.

Center for Libertarian Studies
Foundation for Economic Education
Inquiry
Libertarian Party
Libertarian Review
Students for a Libertarian Society
Council for a Competitive Economy
Freedom School
Cato Institute: $3,785,750
Institute for Humane Studies: $15,613,336
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Donor Network
The Koch donor network, comprised of a constellation of wealthy conservative donors, was an outgrowth of biannual retreats Charles Koch and Koch Industries began hosting in 2003. Not long after President Obama took office, these confabs, held in locations including Palm Springs and Aspen, became a well-oiled fundraising juggernaut. The Kochs and their allies pooled their resources and channelled money through a maze of trusts and nonprofits, some of which seemed to exist only to obscure their fusing source. The beneficiaries of the Koch network—which in scope and sophistication has come to resemble a political party in its own right—have included dozens of political nonprofits and advocacy groups that have spent millions to elect Republican and advance a free market, anti-regulatory agenda. Among the recipients of Koch donor network funds (and contrary to the Koch brothers’ libertarian beliefs) are social conservative groups that have fought abortion and gay marriage, engaging in the culture war battles that the Kochs have largely steered clear from.

Dollar figures show the amount each group has received from key Koch organizations.

Click a group for more details.

60 Plus Association : $53,880,446
American Commitment : $12,899,544
Center to Protect Patient Rights (now known as American Encore): $118,667,000
American Energy Alliance : $2,614,960
American Future Fund : $76,822,409
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC): $1,019,958
American Values Action: $230,000
Americans for Job Security : $4,945,000
Americans for Limited Government : $7,160,000
Americans for Prosperity: $60,470,808
Americans for Responsible Leadership : $25,552,800
Americans for Tax Reform : $5,502,000
Americans United for Life Action : $624,000
Center for Shared Services: $8,500,387
Citizen Awareness Project : $1,000,000
CitizenLink: $8,980,218
Club for Growth: $1,365,000
Common Sense Issues: $160,000
Concerned Women for America: $11,401,573
Donors Trust: $8,890,000
EvangChr4 Trust: $6,135,000
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: $1,430,561
Free Enterprise America : $3,627,500
Freedom Partners
Freedom Partners Action Fund: $4,000,000
Generation Opportunity: $14,699,211
Hispanic Leadership Fund : $692,000
National Association of Manufacturers : $3,670,000
National Federation of Independent Business : $2,710,783
National Rifle Association : $6,615,000
National Right to Work Committee : $1,000,000
Philanthropy Roundtable: $338,945
Public Notice: $17,466,943
Republican Jewish Coalition : $700,000
Revere America : $2,300,000
RightChange.com: $850,000
Susan B Anthony List : $1,560,000
TC4 Trust
Tea Party Patriots : $230,000
The Libre Initiative Trust: $3,957,366
Themis Trust: $24,831,000
US Chamber of Commerce: $3,000,000
West Michigan Policy Forum : $1,250,000
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Public Policy
Starting decades before the emergence of their vaunted donor network, the Koch brothers (and particularly Charles) have worked to build and foster an ideological infrastructure to advance their free-market, small-government philosophy. Charles’ conservative activism stretches back to his days as a member of the John Birch Society in the early 1960s, and since then he, later joined by David, has channelled millions to like-minded think tanks, advocacy outfits, and politicians. This list represents some of the top recipients of the Koch brothers’ political and public policy largesse (and organizations, such as the John Birch Society, that were key to their political formative years), but it is far from exhaustive; other Koch-supported think tanks include the Acton Institute, the Hudson Institute, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Dollar figures show the amount each group has received from key Koch organizations.

Click a group for more details.

Brookings Institution: $2,389,400
Citizens for a Sound Economy
Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment: $1,310,000
John Birch Society
KochPac
Mercatus Center: $9,185,500
Pacific Research Institute: $1,167,000
Reason Foundation: $1,026,058
Tax Foundation: $727,100
The Federalist Society: $2,563,335
The Heritage Foundation: $6,140,791
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research: $2,175,000
Washington Legal Foundation: $1,605,000
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Education
This category shows the universities, high schools, and educational centers that have received more than $100,000 since 1998 from the Charles Koch Foundation, the David H. Koch Foundation, and the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation. (Many more have received smaller amounts, and we will expand the list in the future.) The Charles Koch Foundation, in particular, has donated millions towards both scholarships and libertarian research centers at a number of universities, including George Mason, Troy, and Clemson. These donations have come under scrutiny in recent years, especially in cases where the gifts came with contracts giving the Kochs sway over faculty selection and other academic decisions.

Dollar figures show the amount each group has received from key Koch organizations.

Click a group for more details.

Arizona State University: $1,129,000
Auburn University: $300,000
Beloit College: $173,000
Bill of Rights Institute: $4,353,694
Brown University: $450,632
Catholic University of America: $1,000,000
Charles Koch Institute: $2,800,000
Clemson University: $1,107,516
College of Charleston: $158,552
Deerfield Academy: $68,106,000
Duquesne University: $102,000
Emporia State University: $750,000
Florida Gulf Coast University: $404,896
Florida State University: $1,591,155
George Mason University: $38,970,642
George Washington University: $221,620
Grove City College: $655,149
Hampden-Sydney College: $164,600
Harvard University: $142,500
Hillsdale College: $144,423
Kansas State University: $1,081,368
Loyola University of New Orleans: $162,000
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: $395,480
New York University: $213,500
Northwestern State University: $250,000
Northwestern University: $201,154
Ohio State University: $112,000
Pembroke Hill School: $100,000
Rockefeller University: $650,000
San Jose State University: $188,400
Southern Methodist University: $1,000,000
Suffolk University: $730,117
Troy University: $1,474,500
United Negro College Fund: $25,000,000
University of Kansas: $298,500
University of Missouri: $107,000
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill: $229,300
University of Texas: $143,675
Utah State University Foundation: $604,351
West Virginia University: $1,043,500
Wichita State University: $6,000,000
Youth Entrepreneurs: $4,575,260
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Culture & Medicine
Though the Kochs are widely known for their political giving, they have also given millions to more traditional philanthropic causes, ranging from public broadcasting to wildlife conservation to ballet. David, a prostate cancer survivor, has poured hundreds of millions into cancer research and the arts, while Charles has doled out academic scholarships and grants to students. The Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation, named for the brothers' parents, has channeled money towards Kansas-based education and arts initiatives.

Dollar figures show the amount each group has received from key Koch organizations.

Click a group for more details.

Allen-Lambe House Foundation: $1,498,896
American Ballet Theater: $1,000,000
City Center of Music and Drama (known as Lincoln Center): $100,000,000
American Museum of Natural History: $20,000,000
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