Capital Research Center

Capital Research Center (CRC) is an American conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit^[1] watchdog group located in Washington, D.C., that monitors liberal money in politics.^[2][3][4] Its stated purpose is "to study non-profit organizations, with a special focus on reviving the American traditions of charity, philanthropy, and voluntarism."^[5] According to The Washington Post, it also discourages donations by corporations and non-profits supporting what it sees as liberal or anti-business policies.^[6] CRC monitors the giving of major liberal donors in the U.S. and has done extensive research into nonprofits funded by left-leaning donors.^[4]

Capital Research Center

Capital Research Center's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Formation	1984
Founder	Willa Johnson
Type	Nonprofit organization
Headquarters	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Official language	English
Revenue	$7.46 million[1] (2023)
Expenses	$7.17 million[1] (2023)
Endowment	$10.8 million[1]
Website	www.capitalresearch.org

History

CRC was founded in 1984 by Willa Johnson, former senior vice president of The Heritage Foundation, deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel in the first term of the Reagan administration, and a legislative aide in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Journalist and author Marvin Olasky previously served as a senior fellow at CRC.^[7]

In 2011, Politico reported that CRC had received millions of dollars from conservative philanthropists over the years, with a total budget in 2009 of $1.4 million.^[8] Donors have included foundations run by the Koch family, the Scaifes, the Bradleys, as well as ExxonMobil.^[9] CRC reported contributions and grants totaling more than $7 million in 2022.^[10]

David Clarke, the former sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, is the chair of CRC's American Law and Culture program.^[11][12]

In March 2025, CRC president Scott Walter briefed senior White House officials on a range of liberal and Democratic donors, nonprofits, and fundraising techniques, including ActBlue and Arabella Advisors. Walter is the author of a book about Arabella Advisors, Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America, published in 2023. Of the White House briefing, Kenneth Vogel of The New York Times wrote that "A small group of White House officials has been working to identify targets and vulnerabilities inside the Democratic ecosystem, taking stock of previous efforts to investigate them" and that "The president and his allies in Congress are targeting the financial, digital and legal machinery that powers the Democratic Party and much of the progressive political world."^[2] According to The Wall Street Journal, a focus of Walter's briefing was on nonprofits that CRC alleges have promoted views tied to Hamas and are supported by foreign donors.^[13]

Publications and policy stances

CRC has been highly critical of animal rights activists and the environmental movement. In 2006, it published The Green Wave: Environmentalism and Its Consequences, a book by Bonner Cohen. In 2007, it published the third edition of The Great Philanthropists and the Problem of "Donor Intent" by Martin Morse Wooster, a senior fellow at the Center. In 2008, it published Guide to Nonprofit Advocacy, by James Dellinger. The CRC said Al Gore's campaign to control carbon emissions is motivated by the likelihood that he will make an "immense fortune" if laws are passed to control them,^[14] and has published authors who deny human influence in climate change.^{[citation needed]} They have argued that organized labor is bad for America,^[15] and criticized government efforts to weaken intellectual property protection of prescription medications.^[16]

InfluenceWatch

In 2017, the CRC launched the website InfluenceWatch, which is an online encyclopedia of donors, nonprofits, and political influencers.^[17] InfluenceWatch documented "the extent to which dark money from Democratically aligned groups was used during the 2020 election."^[18]

Film production

CRC has a film production arm called Dangerous Documentaries, which partially funded No Safe Spaces by Adam Carolla and radio host Dennis Prager, about political correctness on college campuses.^[19][20]