Kansas Values Institute not ready to share information about $17.5 million spent in 2022 to help Gov. Laura Kelly
Kansas Values Institute not ready to share information about $17.5 million spent in 2022 to help Gov. Laura Kelly
KVI won't release its IRS 990 until 2024
Last year nonprofit Kansas Values Institute spent millions for 20 ads on the gubernatorial contest between Laura Kelly and Derek Schmidt. KVI’s ads were pro-Laura Kelly, a Democrat, or anti-Derek Schmidt, a Republican.
As early as July 2022 the Sunflower State Journal reported KVI’s broadcast spending was approaching $20 million.
Last December at the 2022 Kansas Post-Election Conference at the Dole Institute in Lawrence KVI’s executive director, Evan Gates said “the numbers that are floating around out there are $17.5 million that KVI spent.”
KVI’s $17.5 million campaign in 2022 was more money than the combination of the Laura Kelly and Derek Schmidt campaigns!
So when might we learn the exact amount KVI spent last year to help elect Laura Kelly over Derek Schmidt by a mere 22,258 votes?
IRS 990s
Every year a nonprofit, like Kansas Values Institute, files a tax form known as an “IRS 990” revealing information about revenues and expenditures. The IRS uses this document to determine if the transactions were appropriate for a nonprofit.
IRS 990s do not reveal names of donors to a non-profit, but will reveal the total amount of contributions. [Some donors can be discovered in expenditures in other 990s if donations were from other nonprofits.]
KVI’s 2022 IRS 990 will shed light on their huge receipts and huge spending last year, but when will that document be released?
For the last four years KVI filed its IRS 990 by Nov.15. So, a reasonable guess of when KVI was filing their 2022 IRS 990 might be Wed., Nov. 15, 2023?
An email sent to Evan Gates on Thursday asked for a PDF copy of their 2022 IRS 990 if it were recently filed — or to consider publishing their 990s online for full transparency. IRS rules require a response within 30 days.
Gates’ response a few hours later was a bit unexpected: wait until next year.
We file on a delayed schedule. Our 2021 990 is the most recent 990. Feel free to circle back after the 2022 990 is publicly filed in the new year. Evan Gates, 11/16/2023
2022 Kansas Post-Election Conference
Here is a partial transcript of exchanges with Dole Institute Director Emeritus Bill Lacy, and campaign managers at KVI, the Laura Kelly campaign, and the Derek Schmidt campaign, where approximate 2022 campaign budgets were revealed, including $17.5 million by KVI.
Bill Lacy, Director Emeritus, Dole Institute of Politics [1:34:08]:
“Now there’s been several mentions of this today, but I’d like to get into it in a little bit more detail, and that is, the amount of money that was spent on this campaign. I’m just curious if the campaigns can give us kind of an idea of how much they spent, and also, Evan, if you know, I’m sure you know about how much you guys spent, but how much was spent by external organizations. What are we talking about here?”
Evan Gates, Executive Director, Kansas Values Institute [1:34:42]:
“I think that KVI primarily … our focus was on paid media, so TV, digital and mail. The numbers that are floating around out there are $17.5 million that KVI spent. … I would say on our side we were the primary vehicle, and there weren’t a lot of other organizations…”
Shelbi Dantic, Laura Kelly campaign manager [1:35:53]:
“We spent $7.5 million on TV … I think the dollars equal points when you advertise on TV. … [The total rough budget was] about $8.2 [million].”
CJ Grover, Derek Schmidt campaign [1:37:05]:
”We were similar with about $2.5 to $3 [million] on TV. Overall we were about $4.5 to $5 [million] range.”
Bill Lacy [1:37:54] : “Evan, did I get that number right or did I misunderstand? $17.5 million?”
Evan Gates [1:38:00] : “Yes, that’s what KVI spent.”
Bill Lacy [1:38:03]: “Wow! That’s a really significant chunk of change.”
Related
New ads rolled out in governor’s race; broadcast spending approaches $20 million, Brad Cooper, Sunflower State Journal, July 1, 2002.