The federal indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, which accuses the SPLC of wire fraud and bank fraud for funding members of the very white supremacist groups it claims to dismantle, has led some financial institutions to block grants to the group.
After Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Financial announced they would stop issuing grants to the SPLC due to the indictment, The Daily Signal reached out to 15 companies on the Fortune 1000 whose foundations sent the SPLC more than $10,000 since 2020.
Some of these companies have followed Fidelity’s lead in stating that the SPLC will not be eligible to receive grants through donor-advised funds due to the federal indictment.
“Corporate donations to the Southern Poverty Law Center underscore the need for companies to ensure they are not inadvertently supporting extremism,” Dustin DeVito, director of research at 1792 Exchange, told The Daily Signal in a statement Friday.
“Companies that outsource charitable giving programs to providers like Benevity should also verify that those platforms are not relying on defamatory SPLC smears to exclude eligible charities,” he added.
SPLC Scandals
Last week, a federal grand jury indicted the SPLC on wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy charges for sending money to members of the very white supremacist groups the center claims it exists to dismantle. The SPLC did not deny funding members of the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nations, but insisted the funds were part of an informant program that it used to prevent violent attacks.
The indictment, however, suggests that the SPLC didn’t just pay these field agents—it actually supervised “racist postings” for an organizer of the 2017 Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally.
The claim that the SPLC might be propping up hate in order to raise money aligns with long-term criticism of the group. Critics have long said the SPLC puts mainstream conservative and Christian groups on a “hate map” with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan in order to exaggerate the threat of “hate” and raise money by presenting itself as the key opponent of “hate.” The group has even put groups of medical professionals on the “hate map” for disagreeing with the SPLC’s outspoken support for transgender medical interventions.
Major Companies Funding SPLC
At least 15 major companies have given the SPLC at least $10,000 since 2020, according to an analysis from 1792 Exchange confirmed by The Daily Signal’s own research. Of these, only Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Thrivent Financial, and T. Rowe Price responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time.
1. Gilead Sciences: $750,000
The foundation of the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences gave the SPLC $500,000 in 2022 “to promote student health & wellbeing by advancing education equity,” and another $250,000 in 2023 for the same purpose.
2. Raymond James Financial: $689,079
The investment bank Raymond James Financial gave the SPLC $78,505 in the year ending March 2021, $96,360 in the year ending March 2023, $105,375 the following year, and $408,839 the year after.
3. BNY Charitable: $428,500
BNY, formerly the Bank of New York, gave $428,500 to the SPLC since 2020.
The BNY Mellon Charitable Gift Fund gave the SPLC: $115,000 in 2020, $174,000 in 2021, $35,000 in 2022, $51,250 in 2023, and $53,250 in 2024.
4. PayPal: $310,435
PayPal Charitable Giving Fund gave the SPLC: $158,936 in 2020, $68,166 in 2021, $44,007 in 2022, and $39,326 in 2023.
5. T. Rowe Price: $235,425
The investment management firm T. Rowe Price gave the SPLC: $7,150 in the year ending March 2021, $45,650 the following year, $51,225 the next year, $50,500 ahead of March 2024, and $80,900 in the most recent available filing.
“T. Rowe Price Charitable is aware of the federal indictment involving the SPLC,” the company told The Daily Signal in a statement Friday. “We are closely monitoring the legal process and will continue to observe the situation, taking action as necessary to ensure compliance with applicable regulatory and oversight standards.”
6. Allstate: $125,000
The foundation for the insurance company Allstate gave the SPLC: $100,000 in 2023 for “defending and expanding the rights of low-income black and brown workers in the Deep South,” and $25,000 in 2024 for a “racial equity go grant.”
7. TIAA: $101,575
The foundation for the Fortune 500 financial services company TIAA gave the SPLC: $78,745 in 2020, and $22,830 for the year ending in May 2021. The foundation closed in 2021, transferring the accounts to Renaissance Charitable Foundation.
8. Goldman Sachs: $90,500
The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund gave the SPLC: $47,000 in the year ending June 2020, $10,000 in the following year, $13,000 the year after, $10,000 the next year, and $10,500 ahead of June 2024.
“We would not allow donations from our donor advised funds to be directed to an organization under federal criminal indictment,” Tony Fratto, global head of communications for Goldman Sachs, told The Daily Signal in a statement Wednesday.
9. Thrivent Financial: $52,237
The Fortune 500 nonprofit financial services company Thrivent Financial for Lutherans gave the SPLC: $6,239 in 2020, $10,424 in 2021, $12,150 in 2022, $10,336 in 2023, and $13,088 in 2024.
“Thrivent’s generosity programs help clients direct charitable donations to more than 60,000 eligible nonprofits,” Justin Herndon, the nonprofit’s director of public relations, told The Daily Signal in a statement Thursday.
“While client-directed gifts to the SPLC were previously allowed, we recently reviewed the organization against our program criteria and suspended them from our list of eligible organizations pending further review,” he announced.
10. JPMorgan Chase: $46,373
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation gave the SPLC: $14,519 in 2020, $10,846 in 2021, $7,534 in 2022, $7,405 in 2023, and $6,069 in 2024.
Of note: JPMorgan Chase also contributed $500,000 to the SPLC after the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. The company would not comment when asked about Charlottesville, and did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
11. Northrop Grumman: $31,093
The foundation for the defense technology company Northrop Grumman gave the SPLC $31,093 in 2020.
12. Pfizer: $29,955
The foundation for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer gave the SPLC: $11,528 in 2021, $6,678 in 2022, $7,224 in 2023, and $4,525 in 2024.
13. GE Aerospace: $23,241
The foundation for the jet engine maker GE Aerospace gave the SPLC: $17,649 in 2020, $2,557 in 2021, $2,125 in 2022, and $910 in 2023.
14. Bank of America: $40,586
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation matches the grants employees give to various entities, including the SPLC. Bank of America Charitable gave the SPLC: $18,681 in 2021, $10,190 in 2021, $6,466 in 2022, and $5,249 in 2023.
A Bank of America spokesperson clarified that those contributions came from an employee matching grant program, for which all IRS-designated 501(c)(3) nonprofits are eligible.
15. Liberty Mutual: $10,000
The foundation for the insurance company Liberty Mutual gave the SPLC $10,000 in 2022.
