A major hub of left-leaning “dark money” poured almost $311 million into political and ideological campaigns during 2024, according to newly released tax filings provided to US media outlets. The sum, which funded efforts abortion, voting rights, climate activism and a wide range of partisan causes, more than doubled the previous year’s outlays by the Sixteen Thirty Fund. Its spending, however, still fell short of the group’s unprecedented 2020 peak of nearly $410 million, when Democrats gained unified control of Washington.
Democrats suffered what party strategists themselves described as bitter losses in the 2024 presidential and Senate contests. Yet the leadership of the Sixteen Thirty Fund insisted that the movement’s work remained on track. The group’s president, Amy Kurtz, argued in a public message that the recent off-year election results, where Democrats fared better, served as both a sign of endorsement and a spur for further activity. She emphasised that political progress, in the Fund’s view, was built over time rather than in single election cycles.
A major centre of left-wing dark money
The Sixteen Thirty Fund is a US-based 501(c)(4) organisation that has become one of the most powerful vehicles for undisclosed left-wing money in American politics. Such groups, commonly criticised across the political spectrum as sources of “dark money”, are classified as social-welfare nonprofits but are permitted to spend heavily on political advocacy. Crucially, they do not have to reveal their donors, allowing vast sums to shape political outcomes without public scrutiny.
The Fund is operated by Arabella Advisors, a consultancy at the centre of a sprawling network of liberal advocacy organisations. Critics argue that the arrangement allows wealthy donors and ideological patrons to influence elections, referendums and policy debates while remaining shielded from transparency rules that apply to political parties and traditional campaign committees.
The new tax filings show the Sixteen Thirty Fund raised more than $282 million in 2024, a jump of more than $100 million compared to the previous year. More than 60 per cent of this came from just five extremely wealthy donors, who provided eight-figure cheques. One donor contributed $58.9 million, another $51.4 million. While the group does not publicly identify contributors, previous disclosures from other organisations point to networks associated with Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and the philanthropic empire founded by George Soros as past financiers. Although the Fund has stated that it backs proposals for increased disclosure requirements for nonprofits, its own financial operations illustrate the growing reliance of the American left on large, untraceable infusions of money from wealthy patrons.
Heavy political spending across the 2024 cycle
The Sixteen Thirty Fund reported channelling almost $63 million into super PACs and political committees, in addition to spending more than $15 million directly on political activity. These sums helped fuel advertising, mobilisation drives and late-breaking interventions in key races.
One significant beneficiary was Your Community PAC, which received $6.7 million and became an aggressive, last-minute spender backing former Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic candidates in traditionally conservative states. The Fund also routed money to major super PACs supporting Democratic House and Senate campaigns as well as organisations aligned with the Harris presidential bid. Around $2 million each went to Retire Career Politicians and Civic Truth Action, committees that invested heavily in promoting an independent challenger to Republican Senator Deb Fischer, along with third-party presidential candidates seen as potentially siphoning votes from President Donald Trump.
The organisation’s single largest grant, nearly $28 million, was directed to America Votes, a voter-mobilisation coalition that works chiefly to boost turnout among left-leaning constituencies. The Fund also spent tens of millions of dollars on state ballot campaigns across the country. These included $14 million for an unsuccessful push to expand abortion access in Florida and $6 million for a failed anti-gerrymandering initiative in Ohio. Other sizeable outlays went to North Fund, another opaque advocacy entity run by Arabella Advisors, which received $6.8 million, and to Unrig Our Economy, which campaigns on labour and economic issues and was given $5.1 million.
Large sums steered toward climate activism
The filings reveal that climate-related organisations remained major targets of the network’s funding. The Sixteen Thirty Fund steered millions toward environmental pressure groups that lobby aggressively for climate legislation and regulatory action. Among the biggest recipients were the League of Conservation Voters, awarded $11.8 million; the Climate Equity Action Fund, which received $6.9 million; the Climate Jobs National Resource Center Action Fund, given $5.8 million; and Advanced Energy United, a clean-energy business association, awarded $3.5 million. These grants reflect the Fund’s long-standing role in underwriting the US climate-activist infrastructure. A substantial portion of the Fund’s activities remains hidden from public view because of its reliance on fiscal sponsorship, a structure that allows it to host multiple advocacy groups internally without requiring them to file separate public reports. This arrangement enables new political projects to launch rapidly, spend heavily and operate nationwide while avoiding the visibility that independent organisations would face.
Among the initiatives believed to be run under the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s umbrella are Protect Our Care Action, which campaigns against Republican health-care proposals; Galvanize Action, which targets moderate women voters; and Paid Leave for All, which pushes for federal paid-leave legislation. In her recent statement, Kurtz claimed that this model allows the organisation to operate with flexibility and speed in an increasingly competitive political environment.
