The National Organization for Mar-riage (NOM) has just released its 2009 Form 990, a tax form they are required to submit to the IRS. This followed a specific request by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for transparency. While NOM filed its form on November 14, 2010, it did not disclose the information publicly until the organization gave an HRC representative a hard-copy of the 990. The 990 shows that the top three wealthy donors contributed 68% of the total donations, the top four donors gave 73% and the top five donors gave 75%.
Kevin Nix, NOM Project Director for HRC, said, “NOM’s reluctance to make their tax returns available publicly is par for the course in their pattern of secrecy and shadowy dealings. While NOM claims to represent a grassroots network, it’s not surprising that they’ve tried to hide the fact that they are almost entirely beholden to a few wealthy, anti-gay donors.”
NOM raised $7.1 million in ’09. Donors can be individuals or corporations, but their identities are not required to be disclosed publicly. According to the 990, the contributions from NOM’s top five donors are the following:
1. $2,475,000
2. $1,230,000
3. $1,100,000
4. $400,000
5. $150,000
On January 3, an HRC representative went to the Washington, D.C. NOM office and asked for a copy of its 2009 990 for both its (c) 3 and (c) 4 organizations. On Tuesday, January 4, HRC went back to the office and obtained a hard-copy of the (c) 4 990. NOM failed to provide HRC with a complete return.
According to IRS regulations, any non-profit organization has to produce its returns if asked for in-person on the same day of the request.
Last month, Fred Karger, a longtime NOM watcher, reported that NOM had not filed their tax returns for 2009. NOM Exposed.org is a joint project by the Human Rights Campaign and the Courage Campaign to uncover the truth for reporters, lawmakers and the public who buy into NOM’s façade of tolerance and rationality.
