Four million dollars flowing from Nebraska nonprofit in 2025 to Kansas abortion clinics and election-related nonprofits
About $3 million for election nonprofits and $1 million for abortion clinics
Many Kansans are not aware of huge investments by progressive nonprofits building capacity to steer Kansas elections. This started about a decade ago.
Kansas healthcare foundations spent almost $9 million from 2017 to 2024 on a project to build capacity in many phases of “integrated voter engagement (IVE),” which was a technique used to turn Colorado blue about 15 years ago.
Four election-related nonprofits involved in IVE accepted funding from a major abortion advocacy group in 2025.
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
A recent LifeNews article explained that between 2000 and 2018 the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF), which billionaire Warren Buffett established and named after his late wife, donated $4 billion to pro-abortion groups.
Some of that money has been flowing to Kansas.
A March Watchdog Lab article revealed the STBF sent $2.2 million to abortion clinics in Kansas, as well as $101K to ACLU Kansas in 2024.
STBF filed their IRS 990 tax filing for 2025 on May 5th, which revealed more current grants to Kansas. [Most nonprofits will not file their 2025 IRS 990s until late this year.]
The diagram below shows these six grants totaling nearly $4 million sent to Kansas recipients in 2025:
In 2025, like in 2024, STBF gave $1.1 million to Kansas abortion clinics, Planned Parenthood Great Plains in Overland Park, and Trust Women Foundation in Wichita.
The other four recipients of STBF 2025 grants had all been part of the Kansas integrated voter engagement project from 2016 to 2024. In this group of four only ACLU Kansas Foundation received STBF grants in both 2024 and 2025.
Nonprofit election involvement
Information about the four election-related nonprofits will be described below: first IVE activities and other past projects, followed by current work.
ACLU Foundation of Kansas
During the 2017-2024 IVE project, ACLU was to “build long-term power among a diverse cross-section of Kansans.”
Conduct digital engagement, trainings, and in-person organizing to raise awareness of core civil rights and liberties issues and build long-term power among a diverse cross-section of Kansans.
In 2023 ACLU Kansas celebrated its “vote from jail” project in Johnson County.
ACLU Foundation of Kansas received almost 10 times as much in its 2025 STBF grant as compared to 2024.
The ACLU of Kansas is actively involved in election-related work, primarily through voting rights advocacy, litigation against perceived restrictive laws (lawfare), redistricting challenges, and nonpartisan Election Protection efforts.
ACLU Foundation of Kansas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit while ACLU of Kansas is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit.
The ACLU Kansas nonprofits are a strong proponents of “abortion rights.”
ACLU Kansas opposes the 2026 Judicial Selection Amendment, and is taking a leadership role in that opposition with ACLU Executive Director, Micah Cubic, the chair of Kansas United for Impartial Courts.
Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
Kansas Appleseed launched their IVE project in Southeast Kansas in 2017 (10 counties) and Southwest Kansas in 2019 (5 counties).
In 2018 and 2019, Kansas Appleseed received $25K grants from George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Kansas Appleseed actively works on civic engagement and voting rights as a core part of its mission to promote an inclusive Kansas.
Their efforts focus on two main areas:
Opposing voter ID and election security measures (what critics call “voter suppression laws”)
Boosting voter turnout through education and outreach
Kansas Appleseed opposes the 2026 Judicial Selection Amendment.
Loud Light
In 2019-2020 Loud Light and ACLU Kansas orchestrated having Gov. Laura Kelly mail 277,000 voter registration forms to recipients of public benefits.
Loud Light received $100,000 from Kansas Health Foundation’s IVE project in 2022 for “support for Loud Light’s mission to transform Kansas by building better democracy. This is done by building community power, issue advocacy, issue education, leadership development, coalition building, engaging in pro-democracy litigation, increasing voter registration and increasing voter turnout.”
Loud Light’s activities include:
Voter registration drives targeting students and young people, especially with its civic engagement fellowships.
Voter education on deadlines, ID rules, and how to vote.
Turnout mobilization and pledge-to-vote campaigns.
Loud Light opposes the 2026 Judicial Selection Amendment.
Voter Network
This article gives a background of The Voter Network and its “relational organizing” project, Voter-to-Voter:
IRS 990 tax filings by The Voter Network (and its creators) show growth in yearly revenues and expenditures.
On July 7 Micah Kubic, ACLU Executive Director, addressed a Zoom meeting hosted by The Voter Network for their “Voter-to-Voter” primary kickoff.
When elections don’t make sense, when close elections go the “wrong” way, the progressive nonprofit money spent to build The Voter Network and its “relational organizing” capacity is probably a big factor in any explanation, especially in Johnson County.
The right is lacking similar nonprofit organizations and funding to counter what the left is doing in Kansas elections.
Related
Kansas United for Impartial Courts is a consortium ACLU Kansas, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, and other nonprofits
