The News in DataTRENDING

№ 021 · OCT. 22, 2026

Nonprofits That Don't Name Their Donors Supplied 28% Of The Money Behind Congress's Leadership Super PACs

Both parties' congressional leaders use the same arrangement, routing nonprofit money into their super PACs.

By Samuel W. Bennett · Midterms 2026

27.7%OF LEADERSHIP SUPER PAC
MONEY, JAN. 2025–JUNE 2026

$197.7MFROM FOUR NONPROFITS
THAT DON’T NAME DONORS

Four nonprofits that don't disclose their donors gave $197.7 million to the four super PACs aligned with House and Senate leaders in both parties from January 2025 through June 2026, according to an Issue One analysis of FEC filings. That is 27.7% of the $714.6 million those super PACs raised, or more than one of every four dollars.

How the money movesA 501(c)(4) nonprofit, a tax category for "social welfare" groups, can accept unlimited contributions without naming its donors publicly and then give that money to a super PAC. The super PAC reports the nonprofit as its donor, so the people who funded the nonprofit stay unnamed, a pattern the research group OpenSecrets calls "gray money." Each party's leadership has a pair: One Nation gave $70.74 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (R), Majority Forward gave $61 million to Senate Majority PAC (D), American Action Network gave $44.2 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund (R) and House Majority Forward gave $21.7 million to House Majority PAC (D).

The shares differ by party and chamberMajority Forward supplied 35% of Senate Majority PAC's money, the largest share of the four, while House Majority Forward supplied 18% of House Majority PAC's. Republican-aligned groups accounted for 58% of the total, which matches their 58% share of everything the four super PACs raised. Later filings show One Nation's transfers reached $132.9 million through September, according to the Bangor Daily News; we didn't find comparable through-September figures for the other three groups.

Which side benefits has changedThe Brennan Center counted a record $1.9 billion in dark money in the 2024 federal elections, about twice the roughly $1 billion of 2020, and found about $1.2 billion of it boosted Democrats and about $664 million boosted Republicans. Brennan says dark money has favored Democrats in every cycle since 2018 and generally favored Republicans before then. Issue One's 2026 figures cover only the four leadership groups, so they can't show whether the overall balance has shifted this cycle.

Where it shows up on TVIn 2024, groups that disclose no donors paid for 12.4% of outside groups' broadcast TV spending in federal races, $276.7 million of $2.23 billion, according to the Wesleyan Media Project. In Senate races the share was 16.3%, and another 67.6% of all outside-group TV money came from groups, mostly super PACs, that disclose donors but also take money from nondisclosing ones.

What's next

The Federal Election Commission lost its quorum in April 2025 and has had only two of its six commissioners since October 2025, according to The Washington Post, so it cannot vote to open investigations or advise campaigns before the election. President Trump's two nominees, named in February, have not received Senate votes, the Post reported. Lawyers tend to advise the nonprofits not to file full IRS disclosures of this cycle's activity until mid-November 2027, according to The New York Times, and those filings don't name donors.

How we counted: "dark money" follows the Brennan Center's definition: election spending and contributions by nonprofits and shell companies that are not legally required to disclose their donors and do not. Transfers and shares are from Issue One's July 22, 2026 analysis of FEC filings for January 2025 through June 2026. Brennan's 2024 total counts super PAC contributions ($1.3 billion), online ads ($315 million), TV ads (about $242 million) and spending reported directly to the FEC (about $43 million). TV shares are the Wesleyan Media Project's 2023–24 broadcast data. One Nation's September figure is a news report. OpenSecrets' "gray money" definition is from its March 2024 analysis as republished by Truthout. Sources: Issue One; Brennan Center; Wesleyan Media Project; Bangor Daily News; Washington Post via Election Law Blog; New York Times via GV Wire; OpenSecrets via Truthout. Download the data.