Study Faults Nonprofit Research Groups on Donor Transparency

A first-of-its-kind review of prominent think tanks’ records on disclosing their funding sources gives low marks for transparency to several prominent research and policy organizations on the left and the right, according to The New York Times.

Groups such as the Hoover Institution, the Center for American Progress, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies received one star out of five in the survey by Transparify, a small nonprofit based in Tbilisi, Georgia, and funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Other well-known policy houses fared better, including the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation, which got four stars because they disclose donors who give more than $5,000.

The study, to be made public Wednesday, has already caused ripples in the think-tank world, with some groups revealing more donor data in recent months in hopes of improving their scores.

Think-tank research is often cited by lawmakers and business groups to support or oppose particular policies. “It’s important that people can have confidence in the integrity of the research, and if you are concealing the sources of funding that is relevant, as people don’t know how your research may be motivated,” said Hans Gutbrod, Transparify’s executive director.