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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Why Donate? Because Facts Matter


The 2017 fiscal year was very good for FactCheck.org.

The enthusiasm for fact-based reporting and holding politicians accountable had never been greater.

We received a record amount of individual donations — 1,777 gifts totaling $201,311 — from our readers.

We received postcards from a group of Vermont residents who simply thanked us for our work. Many of those postcards displayed a quote from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black in New York Times Co. v. the United States“The press was to serve the governed, not the governors,” Black wrote.

We even had one supporter offer to donate a portion of his profits from the sale of hats emblazoned with the word “Facts.” It was an offer that we respectfully declined.

But maintaining such enthusiasm is not easy. Our 2018 fiscal year began on July 1, and in the first three months of the fiscal year, we have received a little more than $9,000.

So please consider a donation to FactCheck.org.

Without your continued support, we cannot cut through the political spin and provide the facts to tens of millions of our readers and viewers.

FactCheck.org started 13 years ago with a founding grant from the Annenberg Foundation, and we continue to draw on that grant to operate. That founding grant is dwindling, but we have been able to extend the life of FactCheck.org with the help of individual donations.

Our future is increasingly in your hands.

We do not accept advertising. We do not accept any funds from unions, partisan organizations or advocacy groups. We do not accept donations from corporations with the exception of Facebook, which provides funding as part of Facebook’s initiative to combat the spread of so-called “fake news.” We rely on a shrinking founding grant and your generosity.

Credit card donations may be made through our “Donate” page, which has been revamped and now allows contributors to make recurring monthly donations.

If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-3806. Checks can be made payable to “The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania” with a note in the memo field indicating the donation is for FactCheck.org.

FactCheck.org is a project of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. The University of Pennsylvania is a 501(c)(3) organization, and your contribution is deductible from U.S. federal income taxes to the full extent allowed by law.

As part of our commitment to transparency, we disclose the names of all donors who give us $1,000 or more. It’s the reason why Inside Philanthropy praised our disclosure policy as “exemplifying nonprofit transparency.”

Thank you for reading FactCheck.org. Have a happy holiday season, and a safe and healthy new year.

Update, Jan. 1: We have received nearly 500 donations totaling more than $55,000 since Dec. 15. Thanks to all who have donated.