Talk:Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking

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Dunn's Foundation for Right Thinking is a philanthropic foundation founded in 1993 by Florida multimillionaire William A. Dunn, president of Dunn Capital Management. According to the trust agreement, the Foundation aims to "advance the understanding and practice of classical liberalism, market capitalism, free enterprise, individual political and economic liberty and to reduce the impact of the use of threat of force by coercive organizations (both public and private) against the people of America and the world, principally through education and persuasion."[1]

Koch Wiki

The Koch brothers -- David and Charles -- are the right-wing billionaire co-owners of Koch Industries. As two of the richest people in the world, they are key funders of the right-wing infrastructure, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network (SPN). In SourceWatch, key articles on the Kochs include: Koch Brothers, Koch Industries, Americans for Prosperity, American Encore, and Freedom Partners.

True to its mission statement, the Foundation has in the last five years contributed almost $50 million to what reads like a Dean's List of powerful conservative and libertarian organizations.[2] In terms of publicly disclosed contributions, it is the all-time biggest donor to the Reason Foundation[3] (with Dunn serving as "trustee emeritus"), the Competitive Enterprise Institute[4], the Institute for Justice[5], the Property and Environment Research Center[6], and the Pacific Legal Foundation[7]; it is also the second biggest donor to the Koch-founded Cato Institute[8], of which Dunn is a board member. The trust agreement makes provisions for a one-time contribution ten times that of the previous year in the event of Dunn's death, which could render the Cato Institute or the Reason Foundation upward of $20 million. It also makes provisions for Thomas E. Beach, director of the Property and Environment Research Center, to be appointed co-trustee.[1]

In addition to those listed above, the Foundation has contributed one million or more to the following organizations:[9]

Documents filed with the IRS list assets of $112 million at the beginning of 2012.[10].


  1. 1.0 1.1 Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking, "Conservative Transparency," amended and restated trust agreement, March 9, 2011, accessed July 1, 2014.
  2. Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed June 30, 2014.
  3. Reason Foundation, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed June 30, 2014.
  4. Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed June 30, 2014.
  5. Institute for Justice, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed June 30, 2014.
  6. Property and Environment Research Center, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed June 30, 2014.
  7. Pacific Legal Foundation, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed June 30, 2014.
  8. Cato Institute, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed June 30, 2014.
  9. Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking, "Conservative Transparency," financial data, accessed July 1, 2014.
  10. Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking, "Guide Star," W-990 for 2012, accessed June 30, 2014.