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Raleigh Isabel Walsh, Unmasking Fidelity protest organizer PHOTO BY BRETT VILLENA
Fidelity Uncharitable Hate groups are getting millions through Raleigh-based Fidelity’s nonprofit charity fund. BY JASMINE GALLUP jgallup@indyweek.com
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ucked at the intersection of Creedmoor Road and Glenwood Avenue sits a nondescript office building. It’s squat, tan, and easy to miss—unless you happened to be driving by two weeks ago, when a group of protesters rallied outside. Hoisting signs that read “Stop funding fascism” and “Lives are at stake,” the dozen or so protesters tried to draw attention to the national headquarters of Fidelity Charitable, the largest grant-making organization in the country. When people think of Fidelity, most think of their 401(k) or investment portfolio, not Klansmen marching through the streets of Charlottesville. But financial records show that the company and white supremacy are inextricably linked. From 2015 to 2018, $4.8 million was funneled to hate groups nationwide through Fidelity Charitable, the philanthropic arm of Fidelity Investments, according to an inves8
November 24, 2021
INDYweek.com
tigative report by Sludge. In practice, individual donors give money to Fidelity Charitable, which then disperses that money to groups of the donors’ choice. Another $2.5 million was given to these groups in 2019 (for a total of $7.4 million), according to the most recent tax records available from the IRS. The 31 organizations to whom some donors sent their money are deemed hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks groups that “demean or debase an entire other group of people based on their inherent characteristics,” Heidi Beirich, SPLC director of the Intelligence Project, told Sludge. The list includes such infamous names as VDARE.com, a website that regularly publishes white supremacist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, and the Alliance Defending Freedom, which equates homosexuality with pedophilia and supports the criminalization of sex between LGBTQ people.
Isabel Walsh, who helped organize this month’s protest, wants to spread the word about where Fidelity Charitable’s money is going. “The idea that this could be happening fairly openly without any accountability is at the heart of this campaign,” Walsh told the INDY. “It’s sort of one of those things where you’re like, ‘Wow, I never thought about that, but now that I have, that’s startling.’” As a member of the Unmasking Fidelity movement, which originated in Boston and has now come to the Triangle, Walsh wants Fidelity Charitable to publicly disclose all past contributions to white supremacist and other hate groups. Local protesters are also demanding Fidelity Charitable redistribute the money to people who are targets of hate groups, as well as develop a screening policy that declares certain groups off-limits for donations. “There’s such a broad spectrum of places you could donate to and Fidelity’s only requirement … is that they’re a 501(c)(3), which can cover a lot of territory,” Walsh says. Historically, donor-advised funds like Fidelity Charitable are “cause-neutral,” which means they don’t advocate for a specific cause or disallow giving to specific charities. The group simply ensures money is going to legal 501(c) (3) organizations. Fidelity Charitable did not respond to INDY Week’s request for comment by the print deadline, but officials have made statements to other news organizations about this policy. “Fidelity Charitable does not make grants to groups that may be involved in illegal activities, such as terrorism, money laundering, hate crimes, or fraud,” spokesman Stephen Austin told The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The nonprofit also monitors public records to see if the money is being used for noncharitable purposes, Fidelity Investments vice president Sophie Launay said in an email to Sludge. “If there are concerning reports identified regarding a specific charity, Fidelity Charitable documents such reports, and considers the information in the event a grant is recommended to the charity involved.” But Walsh says existing policies and systems are simply not doing enough. “You can’t really remain neutral when donors are using a lack of limitations to donate certain ways,” she says. “If Fidelity Charitable establishes more stringent guidelines around what kind of places you can donate to, that can be a way to redirect funds to places that will be explicitly helpful.” W For more on donor-advised funds in North Carolina, look for this story on our website at indyweek.com.
