Dear Subscriber,

We closed our fiscal year 2020 on June 30, and can now report that FactCheck.org received $139,230 in individual contributions from readers like you.

That’s slightly more than last year, and our third highest annual amount since we began accepting individual donations in 2010. Our record is $201,311 in FY2017.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to support our work. As I’ve mentioned before, your support is more important to us than ever before. Our primary funding source had been a founding grant from the Annenberg Foundation. In fiscal 2020, the Annenberg Foundation grant provided us with a little more than $200,000 – far less than the nearly $700,000 in the previous year. We have increasingly relied on other sources of income to supplement our finances and continue our work – including individual donations, which have helped us extend the life of FactCheck.org.

In FY2020, we also received support from Facebook, Google and the Stanton Foundation. The amounts and details are below in our year-end and fourth quarter fiscal reports.

If you would like to make a donation for fiscal year 2021, please visit our “Donate” page, where you can contribute via credit card and make one-time or recurring monthly donations.

If you prefer to give by check, send to:

FactCheck.org
Annenberg Public Policy Center
202 S. 36th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3806

FactCheck.org is a project of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, so your contribution is deductible from U.S. federal income taxes to the full extent allowed by law.

Our policy is to disclose the identity of any individual donor giving $1,000 or more. We also disclose the total amount, average amount and number of individual donations. You can find more information about our finances on our website.

Thank you again for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Eugene Kiely
Director, FactCheck.org 

Fiscal Year 2020
(12 months ending June 30, 2020)

Annenberg Foundation: $207,632

Facebook: $323,745

Google: $100,000

Stanton Foundation: $50,000

Individual donors: $139,230

During this 12-month period, we received 2,185 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was $10,000. The average individual donation was $64, and half of our individual donations were $25 or less.

In addition, we received $323,745 from Facebook as part of a project to debunk viral deceptions circulating on social media; $100,000 from Google to support FactCheck.org’s COVID-19 coverage; and $50,000 from the Stanton Foundation to underwrite FactCheck.org’s undergraduate fellowship program and offset general operating expenses. Donors have no control over our editorial decisions.

The individual donors who gave $1,000 or more in fiscal year 2020:

Richard Heller, Media, Pennsylvania: $10,000

Donald McGee, Mukilteo, Washington: $10,000

Bessie Rattner Foundation, Glendale, New York: $5,000

Allen Stenger, Alamogordo, New Mexico: $5,000

Lawrence Kinsloe Madison via LKM Charitable Fund, New York, New York: $3,000

David J. Spector, New York, New York: $2,500

Leighton Moss, Houston, Texas: $2,000

Mo and Cher Willems Foundation, Los Angeles, California: $2,000

Colin J. Cash, Winthrop, Massachusetts: $1,500

First Dollar Foundation, San Francisco, California: $1,000

Jeffrey S. May, Aurora, Illinois: $1,000

Harold Appleton, Bodega Bay, California: $1,000

Sagehorn Family Charitable Fund via Schwab Charitable Fund, San Francisco, California: $1,000

Fiscal Year 2020, Fourth Quarter
(three months ending June 30, 2020)

Annenberg Foundation: $44,063

Google: $100,000

Facebook: $87,265

Individual donors: $30,181

During this three-month period, we received a total of 675 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was $2,000. The average individual donation was $45, and half of our individual donations were $20 or less.

In addition, we received $100,000 from Google to support FactCheck.org’s COVID-19 coverage, and $87,265 from Facebook as part of a national project to debunk viral deceptions circulating on social media. Donors have no control over our editorial decisions.

The individual donors who gave $1,000 or more in the fourth quarter:

Leighton Moss, Houston, Texas: $2,000

Donald McGee, Mukilteo, Washington: $1,500