Kansas leftist groups score big in $1.8 million Soros-linked cash geyser for 2024

A network of large national nonprofit funds linked to Washington-based consulting firm Arabella Advisors directed at least $1.8 million in grants to Kansas nonprofit organizations in 2024, according to federal tax filings analyzed by Olathe-based independent researcher Earl F. Glynn

The funding — distributed through a web of nonprofit grant-making funds commonly described by critics as part of the nation’s “dark money” infrastructure — supported a range of activities in Kansas, including voter engagement efforts, advocacy campaigns, and organizations involved in ongoing debates over abortion policy and election laws.

Soros, a major financial contributor to the Arabella Advisors-managed “dark money” network, uses is philanthropic entities to funnel tens of millions of dollars into progressive causes. His Open Society Foundations (OSF) and associated groups have utilized Arabella-managed funds to distribute money for nationwide initiatives similar to those in Kansas. According to the Capital Research Center, Soros’ network awarded over $153 million to the four main Arabella-managed nonprofits New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund, and Windward Fund. In 2023 alone, Soros’ nonprofits sent over $43 million in 27 separate grants to Arabella-managed funds, including $10 million to the Hopewell Fund for a “Free Election Fund” and $10.9 million to the New Venture Fund.

According to Glynn’s review of IRS Form 990 filings, five nonprofits managed by Arabella Advisors provided at least 20 grants to 15 Kansas organizations in 2024.

Major funds sending money into Kansas

The grants flowed primarily through several large national nonprofit funds that operate as fiscal sponsors or grant-making hubs for progressive initiatives.

Among them were the North Fund and Hopewell Fund, both of which have supported abortion-rights advocacy in Kansas. Hopewell Fund was instrumental in the founding of States Newsrooms, a left leaning consortium of online media sites monitoring conservative legislatures and political candidates primarily in “Red” states, including “The Kansas Reflector” in Kansas.

Glynn reported that the 2024 funds directed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Wichita-based abortion providers and pro-abortion advocacy organizations.

Those grants included:

• $409,625 from the Hopewell Fund to Aria Medical
• $454,185 from the Hopewell Fund to Trust Women
• $50,000 from the North Fund to Kansans for Constitutional Freedom

Glynn wrote that Arabella-managed funds “often support abortion causes in Kansas,” particularly organizations involved in policy debates following the state’s 2022 constitutional amendment vote on abortion.

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Civic engagement and voter turnout efforts

Another major conduit for funding into Kansas was the New Venture Fund, a large national nonprofit that incubates and finances advocacy projects for leftist causes.

According to Glynn’s analysis, New Venture Fund grants supported several Kansas organizations focused on voter registration primarily Democrat voters, turnout, and civic engagement.

Those grants included:

• $138,000 to the Kansas Civic Engagement Table
• $62,500 to Blueprint Kansas, which operates KSVotes.org
• $113,182 to the Kansas Latino Community Network
• $108,350 to Mainstream Civic Engagement

Glynn described the Kansas Civic Engagement Table as a coordinating organization that works with multiple advocacy groups to increase voter participation.

“KCET operates as a ‘backbone’ group that coordinates and supports other nonprofits and advocacy organizations to promote inclusive democracy,” Glynn wrote.

Funding also reached Kansas advocacy groups

The national advocacy hub Sixteen Thirty Fund — the largest of the Arabella-managed funds — also provided money to Kansas organizations.

Among those grants was $38,000 to the Bluestem Foundation for Economic Freedom, a Topeka-based organization associated with the Bluestem political network originally launched by former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Additional Arabella-linked funding reached groups such as Loud Light and Kansas Interfaith Action, which have worked on voter participation efforts and legislative advocacy in recent election cycles.

A complex national funding network

Arabella Advisors manages several large nonprofit funds that operate as fiscal sponsors for advocacy projects and grant-making efforts across the United States.

The system allows donors to support projects through intermediary nonprofits rather than creating separate organizations — a structure that has drawn criticism from watchdog groups that say it obscures the original sources of political funding.

Glynn’s reporting noted that the Kansas grants represent only a small portion of the broader national funding network.

“The links below are to IRS 990s, which can be used to verify the grants shown above,” Glynn wrote, referring readers to publicly available federal tax filings for the organizations involved.

Those filings indicate that millions of dollars move through the Arabella-managed funds each year to support a wide range of policy and advocacy initiatives.

Additional reporting planned

Glynn said his analysis of nonprofit funding flowing into Kansas will continue in a multi-part series examining other out-of-state organizations and grant-making networks involved in state advocacy and political activity.

“This is the first of five articles,” Glynn wrote, “about mostly out-of-state nonprofits giving grants to Kansas progressive groups, usually for election-related activities.”