With rising influence spending by illiberal governments and state-backed firms (e.g. TikTok and Huawei)—including on think tanks and advocacy groups—I'm proud to announce that Lincoln's Board of Directors has formally adopted a policy of refusing gifts from entities tied to authoritarian regimes.
Specifically, we will refuse donations from foreign governments, foreign firms (including their US subsidiaries), and foreign nationals, if their country is ranked as an “authoritarian” or “hybrid regime” by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index. Any exceptions to this policy require a formal vote by the Board and public disclosure of the gift on our website.
In addition to this policy, we are establishing a Gift Acceptance Committee led by members of our board to add an additional layer of scrutiny on incoming donations. This is meant to mitigate the risk of undue reliance on or influence from any particular donor as we continue to grow as an organization.
We invite other organizations to adopt this approach, and reject gifts from entities that work against American values.
Note: As a market-oriented organization, we believe our work should be supported by private philanthropy. We have a pre-existing policy of refusing any direct government funding, and don't plan on changing that.
