Membership to Democracy Alliance is exclusive and by invitation-only, reinforcing the group’s commitment to secrecy. Members, who are dubbed “partners,” meet twice a year and are required to pay an initial $25,000 fee and $30,000 in annual dues. In addition, partners must give at least $200,000 each year to Alliance-endorsed groups. It’s at the private, lavish summits that the partners hear presentations from selected left-wing groups pitching their cause to Alliance members who then decide if and how much to donate to them.
But some consider Democracy Alliance’s hidden influence troubling, regardless of its ideological orientation. Unlike election campaigns, which must detail contributions and spending, most of the think tanks and not-for-profit groups funded by the alliance are exempt from public disclosure laws.
“It is a huge problem,” said Sheila Krumholz, the acting executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. She noted that for decades “all kinds of Democrats and liberals were complaining that corporations and individuals were carrying on these stealth campaigns to fund right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups. Just as it was then, it is a problem today.”
