Wellspring Advisors is a philanthropy/philanthropic advisory firm whose mission is to “coordinat[e] grant-making programs that advance the realization of human rights and social and economic justice for all people”—particularly “the most marginalized and vulnerable.” Toward this end, Wellspring often serves as a conduit for facilitating anonymous donations to groups whose vision of what constitutes “social and economic justice” may be controversial. For instance, Wellspring performed precisely this function—along with such entities as the Vanguard Charitable Endowment, the Rockefeller Fund, and the Tides Foundation—for the pro-socialist, infamously corrupt community organization ACORN.

As ACORN insider-turned-whistleblower Anita Moncrief explains, “Donors were able to give anonymously to Wellspring so the money would not be traced back to where it was coming from, and Wellspring would then cut a check from Vanguard.” Moncrief further points out that Wellspring is also a “major donor” of the ACORN affiliate Project Vote.

According to a House Oversight Committee report, Wellspring collaborated with Citizens Consulting Inc. (CCI), which was the major accounting arm of ACORN’s national group and its allied organizations, to illegally misappropriate and co-mingle ACORN and Project Vote funds. Moncrief explains: “Money was funneled through Wellspring, from there it went into various bank accounts controlled by CCI. CCI had dozens and dozens of accounts. Some were Project Vote and some were ACORN.”

Wellspring is a member of the Peace and Security Funders Group, an association of foundations, charitable trusts, and individual philanthropists who “make grants or expenditures that contribute to peace and global security.”

(Information on grantees and monetary amounts courtesy of The Foundation Center, GuideStar, ActivistCash, the Capital Research Center and Undue Influence)