News Release

Austin, TX: Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) announced today the receipt of $125,000 in new grants this month to support TPJ’s ongoing research into how private money and corporate power influence Texas public policy.

This month the Arca Foundation awarded TPJ $75,000 and the Deer Creek Foundation awarded TPJ $50,000. Arca’s latest grant is on top of the $50,000 that it already had awarded TPJ this year. Deer Creek specifically earmarked its award to support TPJ’s research and advocacy on judicial-selection reform.

“We are grateful for the support of such respected philanthropies as Arca and Deer Creek,” said Texans for Public Justice Director Craig McDonald. “It is encouraging to know that some foundations are committed to improving political institutions in Texas.”

R.J. Reynolds tobacco heiress Nancy Susan Reynolds founded the Washington, D.C.-based Arca Foundation in 1952. Arca works to empower citizens to better shape public policy. The St. Louis-based Deer Creek Foundation is a private philanthropy that supports the majority rule of society within the context of basic Constitutional rights.

TPJ relies upon foundation grants for most of its funding. This year it has raised $295,500 from foundation grants.  TPJ also receives financial support from approximately 1,000 individual Texas donors.
 

The following foundations support Texans for Public Justice research and advocacy projects:

• Alliance For Better Campaigns, Washington, DC  [Pew Charitable Trusts supports ABC]
• Arca Foundation, Washington, D.C
• Deer Creek Foundation, St. Louis, MO
• Magnolia Charitable Trust, Houston, TX
• National Association for Public Interest Law (NAPIL), Washington, D.C
• The Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation), New York, NY
• The Ottinger Foundation, New York, NY
• The Piper Fund, Amherst, MA
• Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund, Los Angeles, CA
• Rockefeller Family Fund, New York, NY
• The Solidago Foundation, Northampton, MA
• The Stern Family Fund, Arlington, VA
• Margaret Cullinan Wray Charitable Trust, Houston, TX

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