Seattle Organization Will Pay Fine to Settle Political-Disclosure Dispute

A Seattle non-profit organization has agreed to pay a fine after running afoul of a Washington State law that requires organizations that give money to political groups on behalf of someone else to disclose the original source of the money.

The dispute involved A Territory Resource, a non-profit organization that operates much like a community foundation, raising money from donors and then using it to make grants to charities in five Western states.

At issue was a $50,000 donation the non-profit group made last June to No! 200, a political group created to oppose a measure on the Washington ballot that sought to scale back government affirmative-action programs. The measure was approved in November.

The $50,000 originally came from David Foecke and Pat Close, who put it into a donor-advised fund at A Territory Resource. The couple asked that the gift be passed on to No! 200, although the decision was left up to the board of the non-profit group.

The state Public Disclosure Commission argued that under Washington law, the non-profit group should have identified Mr. Foecke and Ms. Close when it passed on the money to No! 200.

But Carol Pencke, executive director of A Territory Resource, said that the law was “extremely vague” and that any violation was inadvertent. She said the donors in this case simply wanted to help raise the profile of A Territory Resource rather than call attention to their own giving. She said the couple did not claim any tax deduction for their gift.

To settle the dispute, A Territory Resource and the pair of original donors have each agreed to pay $7,500 fines.