Role in the network: The dark money intermediary connecting the Moritz family’s Loud Hound Foundation to VotingWorks — the election technology company where the foundation president’s brother works — through the New Venture Fund, one of seven nonprofit entities Arabella manages that collectively move over $1 billion annually while obscuring the identity of original donors.
Bio
Arabella Advisors is a Washington, DC-based for-profit philanthropy consulting firm founded in 2005 by Eric Kessler, an alumnus of the Clinton administration. The firm describes itself as helping donors make their philanthropy “more efficient, effective, and equitable.” Critics describe it as the “mothership” (The Atlantic) of America’s largest left-of-center dark money network. [1] [2] [3]
Arabella manages (or until recently managed) a network of nonprofit “funds” that function as fiscal sponsors — umbrella organizations under which hundreds of quasi-independent projects operate without filing their own IRS returns. These projects exist as websites, campaigns, and organizations but are legally part of the parent fund, meaning their individual finances are never publicly disclosed. [2] [3]
The managed funds include: [3] [4]
| Fund | Type | Revenue (2020) | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Venture Fund | 501(c)(3) | $975M | Charitable grants, fiscal sponsorship |
| Sixteen Thirty Fund | 501(c)(4) | $390M | Political advocacy, lobbying |
| Windward Fund | 501(c)(3) | — | Environmental, civic engagement |
| Hopewell Fund | 501(c)(3) | — | Social welfare |
| North Fund | 501(c)(4) | — | Political operations |
| Telescope Fund | — | — | — |
| Impetus Fund | — | — | — |
Between 2013 and 2017, the Arabella network received $1.6 billion in contributions. By 2020, New Venture Fund alone took in $975 million — a 111% increase from 2019’s $461 million. In 2021, the five primary funds collectively raised nearly $1.6 billion from undisclosed donors and spent more than $1 billion. In 2023, the network managed approximately $1.2 billion in revenue and disbursed around $1 billion in grants. Each year, Arabella helps guide more than $5 billion in gifts and impact investments. [1] [2] [5]
Between 2007 and 2017, Arabella’s nonprofit funds paid a combined $76 million in management fees to Arabella Advisors — the for-profit consulting firm. The nonprofit funds generate the revenue; the for-profit firm earns fees for managing them. [2]
The network houses over 340 entities and projects. [2]
The Fiscal Sponsorship Model
Arabella’s structure works as follows: [2] [3]
- A donor (foundation, individual, or corporation) wants to fund a cause without creating their own nonprofit
- The donor gives money to one of Arabella’s managed funds (e.g., New Venture Fund)
- The managed fund acts as fiscal sponsor — the project operates under the fund’s 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) status
- The project gets a name, a website, staff, and campaigns — but it doesn’t file its own IRS forms because it’s legally part of the parent fund
- The project’s finances are bundled with hundreds of other projects in the parent fund’s 990 filing
- The original donor’s identity is obscured because the parent fund doesn’t disclose incoming donors (only outgoing grants to other organizations)
The result: a donor can fund a political campaign, voter registration drive, or advocacy project through multiple layers of intermediaries, with the original source never appearing in any public filing. The project itself appears grassroots. The funding appears organic. The actual money trail runs: Donor → Arabella-managed fund → project.
This is the same architecture through which Loud Hound Foundation’s $3.1 million reaches VotingWorks:
Michael Moritz (wealth source)
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Loud Hound Foundation (William Moritz, president)
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|-- $208,667 to Arabella Advisors (advisory fees)
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|-- $3,100,000 to New Venture Fund (Arabella-managed 501(c)(3))
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v
New Venture Fund (grants to 340+ projects including...)
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v
VotingWorks (Jake Moritz, brother, hardware lead)The 2025 Restructuring
In late 2025, Arabella restructured amid intensifying scrutiny from House Republicans. Much of its operations were transferred to Sunflower Services, a public benefit corporation (PBC) controlled by three of the nonprofits Arabella previously managed (New Venture Fund, Windward Fund, Hopewell Fund). [4] [6]
Public benefit corporations, unlike charities, are permitted to turn a profit but must perform demonstrable social goods. Conservative observers characterized the restructuring as “rebranding to dodge scrutiny.” Scott Walter (Capital Research Center, author of “Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America”) took credit for making the Arabella brand “toxic.” [4] [6]
After the restructuring:
- Sunflower Services manages New Venture Fund, Windward Fund, Hopewell Fund
- Arabella Advisors retains management of Sixteen Thirty Fund, North Fund, Telescope Fund, Impetus Fund
Eric Kessler sold majority ownership of Arabella in 2020 and stopped serving in an executive role. He remains a board member and minority owner. [1]
Major Traceable Donors to the Network
While Arabella’s funds don’t disclose incoming donors, grants TO the funds from other nonprofits can be traced through those nonprofits’ own 990 filings: [3]
| Donor | Amount (cumulative through ~2022) |
|---|---|
| Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | $375M |
| Ford Foundation | $125M |
| Gordon Moore Foundation | $113M |
| Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation | $111M |
| William and Flora Hewlett Foundation | $71M |
| Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | $54M |
| Rockefeller Foundation | $43M |
| Loud Hound Foundation (Moritz) | $3.1M (2022 alone) |
The network has also received funding from Hansjorg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire — raising questions about foreign national funding of domestic political activity. [1] [5]
The VotingWorks Connection
VotingWorks’ own “About” page lists New Venture Fund as one of its foundation funders, alongside Schmidt Futures and Democracy Fund. [7]
Loud Hound Foundation (controlled by Michael Moritz through the Secretary/Treasurer role) pays Arabella for advisory services AND gives $3.1M to the Arabella-managed New Venture Fund. New Venture Fund then grants to VotingWorks, where Jake Moritz (William’s brother) leads hardware design.
The intermediary structure means:
- VotingWorks’ donor list shows “New Venture Fund” — not “Loud Hound Foundation” or “Moritz family”
- Loud Hound’s 990 shows a grant to “New Venture Fund” — not “VotingWorks”
- Only someone who knows BOTH that Loud Hound grants to New Venture Fund AND that New Venture Fund grants to VotingWorks can trace the money from one Moritz brother’s foundation to the other Moritz brother’s employer
This is the fiscal sponsorship model working as designed. Whether it’s working as intended depends on whether the design was meant to enable exactly this kind of intra-family financial routing through opacity layers.
Political Activity
The Arabella network’s political operations are substantial: [2] [3] [5]
- Sixteen Thirty Fund (501(c)(4)) raised $390M in 2020 — surpassing any previous left-leaning political nonprofit fundraising
- Voter Registration Project received $8.5M from New Venture Fund, targeting primarily liberal demographics (low-income individuals, African Americans, Latinos)
- The network funded “many of the left-wing activist groups that fed staff and ideas into the Biden administration” per Daily Signal
- $97.4M in grants to foreign recipients in 2023 across the three primary 501(c)(3) funds
- House Ways and Means Committee held hearings on Arabella, with witnesses warning of a “sprawling empire” of dark money
Congressional Scrutiny
Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee have held multiple hearings focused on Arabella’s network, introducing legislation designed to increase transparency around dark money in politics. The SEC’s FCPA Unit Chief has noted that the broader pattern of opaque funding “remains a significant problem.” [1]
Arabella’s defense is that it is “a business dedicated to making philanthropic work more efficient, effective, and equitable” and that donor anonymity is protected by the First Amendment. Kessler himself supports the Disclose Act — legislation requiring 501(c)(4) organizations to disclose their donors — while simultaneously operating the largest infrastructure for anonymous giving on the political left. [1]
Key People
| Person | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Eric Kessler | Founder (2005), minority owner, board member | Clinton administration alumnus. Sold majority 2020. Supports Disclose Act while operating dark money infrastructure. |
| Sampriti Ganguli | Former CEO | Led period of explosive growth (2019-2020 revenue doubling). Described Arabella as “relatively small business-services organization.” |
Nodes and Open Questions
- Did Arabella advise Loud Hound to route money through New Venture Fund? Loud Hound pays Arabella $208K for advisory AND gives $3.1M to an Arabella-managed fund. Is Arabella advising the Moritz family to use its own intermediary for grantmaking? That would be a conflict of interest — the advisor profiting from recommending its own product.
- What other Moritz family grants flow through Arabella? Does Crankstart or Kelson also use Arabella’s network? If all three foundations route through New Venture Fund, the aggregate Moritz family contribution to Arabella-managed entities could be significantly larger than the $3.1M documented from Loud Hound alone.
- The Sunflower Services restructuring: New Venture Fund is now managed by Sunflower Services, not Arabella directly. Does this change the money flow from Loud Hound to VotingWorks? Or does Sunflower Services maintain the same fiscal sponsorship relationships?
- Foreign funding: $97.4M in grants to foreign recipients in 2023. Hansjorg Wyss (Swiss billionaire) is a known donor. Are any of the network’s foreign grants or foreign donors connected to entities in this investigation (Formation Bio’s Chinese drug sourcing, Worldcoin’s international operations)?
- The Voter Registration Project: $8.5M from New Venture Fund targeting low-income, African American, and Latino demographics — the same communities where TrialSpark placed clinical trial sites and where OpenResearch conducts RISE studies. Is there overlap between the populations targeted for voter registration and those targeted for clinical trial recruitment or UBI research?
- Kessler’s paradox: The founder of America’s largest dark money infrastructure supports the legislation (Disclose Act) that would require disclosure from organizations like his own. Is this genuine belief, or strategic positioning to appear reform-minded while the infrastructure remains operational?
Sources
[2] [Archive] (https://capitalresearch.org/article/crc-special-report-unveils-vast-dark-money-network-on-the-left-from-the-archive/)
[3] [Archive] (https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/for-profit-dc-firm-staging-americas-grassroots-movements-arabella-advisors)
[4] [Archive] (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3894402/liberal-dark-money-giant-rebrands-to-dodge-scrutiny-observers-say/)
[5] [Archive] (https://capitalresearch.org/article/foreign-grants-the-darkest-of-dark-money/)
[6] [Archive] (https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/11/23/what-exactly-just-happened-lefts-dark-money-behemoth-arabella-advisors/)
[7] [Archive] (https://www.voting.works/about)
[8] [Archive] (https://ballotpedia.org/Arabella_Advisors)
[9] [Archive] (https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/loud-hound-foundation/)