John William Pope Civitas Institute

The John William Pope Civitas Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit right-wing pressure group based in North Carolina and launched in 2005 to "facilitate the implementation of conservative policy solutions." It calls itself a "think tank." It gets most of its funding from North Carolina businessman and politician Art Pope (John William Pope's son). A 2010 Facing South comparison of the tax records filed by the Civitas Institute and the John Williams Pope Foundation -- which Art Pope chairs -- reveals that Pope's backing has constituted more than 99 percent of all the grants, donations and gifts that Civitas has received between 2005 and 2009. Civitas Action is its 501(c)(4) sister organization, in which Pope is also a founding member. According to its website, Civitas' vision is "of a North Carolina whose citizens enjoy liberty and prosperity derived from limited government, personal responsibility and civic engagement. The Civitas Institute is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN).

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
The Civitas Institute has ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), both through SPN and directly. An August 2013 ALEC board document obtained by The Guardian lists the Civitas Institute as a former member of the Public Safety and Elections Task Force, which was shuttered in April 2012 after the death of Trayvon Martin, and lists it as intending "to change membership to Education," namely ALEC's Education Task Force.

See SPN Ties to ALEC for more.

Campaigning for Climate Skeptics
In October 2010, Civitas Action spent $5,750 on mailers targeting North Carolina House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight, Democrats who have been supportive of efforts to address global warming. Hackney led the state's climate change commission for a time before appointing in his place Rep. Pricey Harrison (D), one of the legislature's strongest environmental advocates. Basnight has talked about his concern that global warming and associated sea rise could inundate the region and supports a move to clean energy sources. Frances De Luca, president of the Civitas Institute and the former state director of the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, has said more mailers are planned.

Running against 15-term Hackney is Cathy Wright, a nursing instructor who's also worked as a lobbyist for medical groups. Her campaign manager did not respond to Facing South's request for information about her position on climate change. But Wright does say she's a member of the Conservative Womens Forum, which promotes a book calling global warming a "scam" and is critical of clean energy solutions from cap-and trade legislation to wind power to the promotion of compact-fluorescent light bulbs. Additionally, her campaign website links directly to both the John Locke Foundation and the Civitas Institute. Basnight's opponent is Hood Richardson, a retired minerals geologist and commissioner for Beaufort County, N.C. Richardson calls global warming a "problem that has since been debunked as based on faulty science." He also criticizes Basnight for helping create the state climate change commission, saying it will "severely harm businesses." He cites the John Locke Foundation for his assertions.

Staff

 * Francis X. De Luca, President
 * Brian Balfour, Director of Policy and Operations
 * Dr. Robert Luebke, Senior Policy Analyst
 * Jim Tynen, Director of communications
 * Susan Myrick, Elections Analyst
 * Alexander Guin, Director of Development
 * Bill Gilbert, Director of Technology and Outreach
 * Cameron Harwick, Web Development and Media
 * Angela Height, Policy Analyst
 * Rhett Forman, Outreach and Development Assistant

Funding
Civitas' near-total reliance on funding from Art Pope makes it a "private foundation" in the eyes of the IRS, a classification reserved for nonprofits that depend on a sole benefactor. Nationally, the majority of 501(c)(3) nonprofits are public charities; only six percent are private foundations. Pope also sits on the group's board of directors. The group's president, Francis De Luca, used to be director of the North Carolina branch of Americans for Prosperity, a large supporter of the Tea Party Patriots -- the Pope Foundation is the second-largest financial backer of foundations giving to the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

Pope is also at the heart of Civitas Action, the Civitas Institute's 501(c)(4) sister group that is running attack ads against 2010 Democratic state legislators that support renewable energy. Pope is listed as a founding board member of Civitas Action. According to State Board of Elections records, 72 percent of the money Civitas Action has raised for the ads comes from Variety Wholesalers, the retail company Pope owns. The rest came from Americans for Prosperity, where Pope is a director and a leading donor.

Core Financials
Filing as a private foundation:

 2011   2010  :  2009  :  2008  :
 * Total Revenue: $1,583,410
 * Total Expenses: $1,489,622
 * Net Assets: $290,503
 * Total Revenue: $1,384,584
 * Total Expenses: $1,599,000
 * Net Assets: $196,715
 * Total Revenue: $1,384,584
 * Total Expenses: $1,599,000
 * Net Assets: $255,763
 * Total Revenue: $1,066,592
 * Total Expenses: $1,551,161
 * Net Assets: $457,628

Contact Information
100 S. Harrington St. Raleigh, NC 27603 Phone: (919) 834-2099

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Americans for Prosperity
 * Art Pope
 * Astroturf
 * Grassroots
 * John Locke Foundation
 * Patients First

External Resources

 * StinkTanks.org, "SPN in Your State: Art Pope Attempts to Hijack North Carolina's Statehouse with the John Locke Foundation & the Civitas Institute."
 * Saeed Shabazz, "Activists striking back against conservative legislative agenda in state of North Carolina," The Final Call, December 26, 2013.