Faith & Freedom Coalition
This content was last updated Nov. 9, 2023, 6:56 p.m. UTC
Faith & Freedom Coalition (FFC) is a conservative Christian non-profit dedicated to political advocacy. Their work consists of mass voter calling campaigning for prominent conservative causes, which includes opposing gay marriage and opposing transgender rights. They also do political campaigning for various conservative political leaders, including for various presidential candidates and Supreme Court Justices.
The group's most prominent work is the Road to Majority conference, which occurs yearly in Washington, D.C. It features many prominent political speakers, including the likes of Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Ron DeSantis.
FFC has been the recipient of dark money from numerous conservative actors, including the now-shuttered Wellspring Committee. It has used this money to fund efforts in sending out anti-LGBTQ+ pamphlets to its target audience of evangelical Christian voters.
These new Marxists want to give America a new religion. They want to impose on us the religion of woke. It is the religion of transgenderism, critical race theory and open borders multiculturalism, and they are shoving it down our throats.
Founding
FFC was founded on May 14, 2009 in Duluth, Georgia by Ralph Reed Jr. before being moved to its current headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Emerging as a spiritual successor to the Christian Coalition, it sought to bridge the divide between Tea Party voters and evangelicals.
In its tax filings, the organization says of its goals, “Faith and Freedom Coalition is committed to educating and informing people at the grassroots level about timely public policy issues and encouraging them to participate in the legislative process.”
The organization has grown since being just a political advocacy and voter outreach group, transforming into one that hosts one of the largest annual conservative conferences in the United States.
Finances
Faith and Freedom Coalition is a 501(c)(4) organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia while filing its taxes in Duluth, Georgia. In 2021, it brought in over $29 million in revenue, and it spent roughly $23 million on various contractors for voter outreach, including RHA Marketing and American Target Advertising.
FFC has spent about $1.8 million on employee salaries, much of which goes to individuals currently high ranking in the organization including its executive director Timothy Head.
Much of its funding comes from donations solicited from various constituents, as well as from other more prominent figures, including the Koch brothers, who it has reportedly received several million from in donations.
The total revenue of FFC remains relatively stable over time, with the exception of in 2020, when it received a large spike in funds up to $42 million.
History of Anti-LGBTQ+ Activism
The Faith & Freedom Coalition has not engaged in a great deal of anti-LGBTQ+ activism publicly, with two exceptions. For the first exception 2012, it worked to prohibit gay marriage in North Carolina by supporting the North Carolina Marriage Amendment, which had banned gay marriage in the state.
The other exception comes in the form of mail-outs they send to various potential Christian voters, which contained, according to the Austin American-Statesman, various falsehoods along with claims of a malicious “LGBTQ agenda” that is brainwashing children.
The majority of FFC’s anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans activism comes from hosting or supporting notable conservative individuals who have worked against trans rights in some capacity, often including prominent names such as former president Donald Trump, former vice president Mike Pence, and Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
At a 2023 FFC event in Iowa aiming to pitch to various evangelical voters, Mike Pence spoke prominently about “gender ideology,” which he expressed desire to fight. At the same event, Donald Trump spoke about desires to ban minors from transitioning, to “cease the promotion” of transitioning for adult trans folk, and to ban trans women from participating in women’s sports.
Faith & Freedom Coalition has also helped multiple Supreme Court Justices get into their current positions, including Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.
FFC has, however, hosted various anti-trans content on their website and social media accounts, including supporting the transphobic Fairness In Women’s Sports Act from Florida, sharing anti-trans news articles on their Facebook, and opposing the ‘Transgender Mandate’ on their Facebook as well.
Road to Majority
Road to Majority is Faith & Freedom Coalition’s most notable event. Hosted annually, this event serves to galvanize conservative voters into supporting various right-wing politicians who are often featured speaking prominently to their audiences.
While the specific attendees of the event vary by the year, the most recent one from 2023 perhaps hosts a prominent example of the types of figures who get featured. Speakers at the 2023 event include Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, senator Ted Cruz, and Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin.
Senator Josh Hawley, at the 2023 Road to Majority, publicly spoke about many issues concerning conservatives, including trans rights. He referred to being trans as a “religion,” and claimed that trans folk are trying to convince people of “2,000 genders.”
Dark Money and Outside Donations
Dark money refers to funds that influence prominent elections and political activities, but whose donors are not required to be revealed. Faith & Freedom Coalition has received a large sum of dark money through various different donors and organizations. This is most prominently seen with the Wellspring Committee, which is no longer active, that sent FFC approximately $250,000.
FFC has also been identified as a dark money group by Open Secrets, being reported to have engaged in over $5 million expenditures to unknown causes during the 2010 midterm elections, up substantially from the two surrounding years, 2009 and 2011.
While not dark money proper, chapters of FFC have itself engaged in money exchanges that flew below the radar of many people, including the Iowa chapter receiving $25,000 from Newt Gingrich’s Renewing American Leadership (ReAL)