progressive donor-network democracy-alliance soros steyer dark-money
related: Democracy Alliance George Soros Tom Steyer New Venture Fund Sixteen Thirty Fund
Who They Are
National Progressive Donor Networks. The coordinated mega-donor infrastructure of the progressive movement — organized primarily through the Democracy Alliance (DA), a network of 100+ wealthy donors who collectively commit $100M+ annually to progressive organizations. Founded in 2005, the DA coordinates funding to progressive infrastructure organizations (Center for American Progress, Media Matters, Catalist) and political operations (state-level voter engagement, progressive policy advocacy).
The progressive donor network extends beyond DA to include: the Arabella Advisors network ($3B+ in spending 2020-2022 through New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, etc.), climate philanthropy networks (Hewlett, Bloomberg, Steyer), tech-progressive donors (Reid Hoffman, Dustin Moskovitz), and the labor-aligned donor infrastructure (AFL-CIO, SEIU). Together, these networks constitute the funding backbone of progressive politics — but their priorities don’t always align with the progressive base’s demands.
Money
The national progressive donor network is the liberal donor class’s answer to the Koch network — a coordinated funding operation that directs hundreds of millions annually to organizations that advance a progressive agenda defined by wealthy donors. The structural tension: progressive donors fund organizations that advocate for policies (climate action, healthcare reform, voting rights) while simultaneously constraining the scope of those policies to protect donor class interests. The Democracy Alliance’s recommended organizations don’t include those advocating for wealth taxes, Wall Street structural reform, or abolition of the carried interest loophole — because the donors funding the progressive movement would be the targets of those policies.
Sources
- IRS: Democracy Alliance-funded 990 filings (Tier 1)
- Ballotpedia: Progressive donor networks (Tier 3)
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