Acronym (organization) explained

Acronym
Type:Nonprofit[1] political advocacy group
Purpose:"We build power + modern infrastructure for a new progressive movement."[2]
Headquarters:Washington, D.C.[3]
Leader Title:President and CEO
Leader Name:Tara McGowan
Leader Title2:Director
Leader Name2:Michael Dubin
Leader Title3:Treasurer
Leader Name3:Hannah Linkenhoker
Tax Id:82-1630469
Status:501(c)(4)
Revenue:$1,294,938
Revenue Year:2017
Expenses:$1,297,124
Expenses Year:2017

Acronym (styled ACRONYM) is a Washington, D.C.-based American 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation, co-founded by Tara McGowan and Michael Dubin in 2017. The organization is one of the major coordinators and producers of digital media campaigns aligned with the Democratic Party, and has been hired by or has provided support to various other organizations including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emily's List, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Planned Parenthood. It was the majority owner of Shadow, Inc., a technology company that made the mobile application software that malfunctioned during vote tallying at the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses, but later divested its stake in the company.[4]

Digital media

McGowan and Dubin co-founded Acronym in 2017[5] [6] with the stated intention of "advancing progressive causes through innovative communications, advertising, and organizing programs".[7] Since then, Acronym has made significant investments in digital media campaigns that aim to register voters. Within just over a year of its founding, Acronym had raised tens of millions of dollars for digital advertising campaigns, running more than 100 ad campaigns and registering 60,000 voters.

In 2019, Acronym launched the Courier Newsroom,[8] a digital for-profit media company which publishes what appear to be local pseudo-news outlets but which are actually Democratic Party propaganda efforts.[9] [10] The creation and operation of Courier Newsroom has raised outrage and ethics questions about ACRONYM and about its financiers, who include billionaires Reid Hoffman and Laurene Powell Jobs.[11]

In November 2020, Fast Company called Acronym "the Democrats' most advanced digital advertising project."[12]

Funding

Acronym's backers include Michael Dubin (founder of Dollar Shave Club), Reid Hoffman, and Laurene Powell Jobs.[13]

Acronym's affiliated organizations and PAC donors include high-profile donors like the director Steven Spielberg and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. Other donors of $100,000 or more include Kate Capshaw, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Mimi Haas.[14] Acronym's PAC, PACRONYM, has further received "eight-figure checks" from financiers Seth Klarman and Donald Sussman, venture capitalist Michael Moritz,[15] [16] [17] and from George Soros' "Democracy" super-PAC.[18] Quartz summarized the top donors to PACRONYM as "hedge funds, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood."[19]

Because of the substantial volume of money that it has raised, and because of its status as a 501(c)(4) political nonprofit organization that is not required to disclose the donations it receives, Acronym has been widely described as a dark money group.[20] [21] Acronym has received criticism for the lack of transparency in its funding structure, although McGowan and others have defended the 501(c)(4) funding structure as a useful innovation for progressive advertising groups to adopt.[22]

Relationships with other organizations

In 2019, the Iowa Democratic Party paid $63,000 to Shadow, Inc., a for-profit software company acquired by Acronym, to create a mobile application to tally results from the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses.[23] [24] Shadow, Inc. was created[25] in 2019 by Acronym when they acquired the technology firm Groundbase from Gerard Niemira, who was then made CEO of Shadow, Inc.[26] Niemira had also previously served as chief operating officer and chief technology officer of Acronym prior to being CEO of Shadow, Inc.[6] [27]

In the wake of Acronym's involvement in the 2020 Iowa Caucuses' vote tallying problems, McGowan downplayed Acronym's connection to the app Shadow that was responsible for delays and inconsistencies in reporting election results. A report in The Intercept, however, found that "internal company documents, a source close to the firms, and public records show a close and intertwined relationship between Acronym and Shadow."[26] ACRONYM later divested its interest in Shadow Inc.[4]

In addition to Shadow, Inc., Acronym has owned several for-profit corporations, including the digital strategy firm Lockwood Strategy and the media company FWIW Media.[8] Acronym planned to launch an apparel company called Rogue Swag, and later ran an apparel campaign under that name.[28] Courier Newsroom, which describes itself as a "progressive media company", is also owned by Acronym.[29] Courier Newsroom acts as a parent company for local news websites.[29] [30]

In November 2019, Acronym founder Tara McGowan announced that Acronym and its affiliated Super PAC, called Pacronym (and styled PACRONYM), would undertake a $75 million online advertising campaign targeting four potential swing states in the 2020 United States presidential election.[31] [32] Pacronym received $2,407,208 in 2018 and spent $1,000,000 (43%) the same year in payments to Lockwood Strategy, also owned by Acronym.[33] Since the campaign of incumbent president Donald Trump was reported to have a significant advantage in digital advertising during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, this large expenditure by a Democratic-aligned organisation was considered by many political strategists and media commentators to be a crucial safeguard for the Democratic Party against the risk of being outspent in digital advertising before their presidential nominee could be chosen.[34] Nick Fouriezos of Ozy magazine identified Acronym, and McGowan's efforts in particular, as "one of the major forces shaping the Democrats' general-election fight against Donald Trump".[35]

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emily's List, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Planned Parenthood have hired Acronym for digital organizing services.[35]

David Plouffe, who was campaign manager for former president Barack Obama, serves on the board of directors of Acronym.[6] [36]

Productions

Acronym started a weekly newsletter called FWIW,[37] [38] as well as in 2020 created an accompanying podcast called the FWIW Podcast. Hosted by McGowan, the FWIW Podcast was a biweekly podcast about the digital race for the White House. Past guests included David Plouffe, Jeff Zeleny, and DNC CTO Nell Thomas.[39] [40]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ACRONYM . . 2020 . February 5, 2020.
  2. Web site: ACRONYM homepage . Acronym . February 5, 2020.
  3. Web site: Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. . July 2019 . February 5, 2020 .
  4. Web site: The Democratic Party's most hated startup can't change what happened in Iowa. But it can change its name.. Schleifer. Theodore. 2020-05-08. Vox. en. 2020-05-18.
  5. Web site: McCammond . Alexi . Digital-first startup launches to elect progressive Dems . . October 26, 2017 . November 24, 2019.
  6. News: Maker of Glitchy Iowa Caucus App Has Democratic Party Ties . February 4, 2020 . The New York Times. Associated Press. February 5, 2020.
  7. Web site: About ACRONYM . Acronym . February 5, 2020.
  8. News: Emily Stewart . Acronym, the dark money group behind the Iowa caucuses app meltdown, explained . February 7, 2020 . MSN . 6 February 2020 . the Courier Newsroom, a for-profit media company under Acronym's umbrella that runs multiple local sites that deliver left-slanted news.
  9. News: Hasen . Richard . If Democrats fight right-wing "fake news" fire with fire, we all lose . 28 May 2020 . Salon . February 23, 2020.
  10. News: Massoglia . Anna . 'Dark money' networks hide political agendas behind fake news sites . . May 22, 2020.
  11. News: ALEX THOMPSON . Newsroom or PAC? Liberal group muddies online information wars . 5 September 2020 . Politico . 14 July 2020 . Acronym — a sprawling digital organization whose programs include millions of dollars in traditional political advertising and voter engagement efforts, with financing from some of the deepest pockets in progressive politics, such as liberal billionaires Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, and Laurene Powell Jobs, the majority owner of The Atlantic — has stirred outrage and provoked debate about the ethics of such political tactics.
  12. Web site: Pasternack. Alex. 2020-11-02. This data expert helped Trump win. Now he's built a machine to take him down. 2020-11-02. Fast Company. en-US.
  13. News: Jim Rutenberg . Matthew Rosenberg . Trump Won the Internet. Democrats Are Scrambling to Take It Back . 31 August 2020 . . 30 March 2020 . en . Another initiative went more smoothly, at least at first. It was called Acronym; among its backers were the Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin, Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Powell Jobs..
  14. News: Ari Levy . Top Hollywood celebrities and Silicon Valley investors are linked to the app that failed in Iowa . 3 May 2020 . MSN . CNBC . 4 February 2020 . en . Mimi Haas, who's not in tech but is a major Bay Area figure and the widow of Peter Haas of the Levi Strauss family [...] Director Steven Spielberg contributed $500,000 to Pacronym as did his wife, the actress Kate Capshaw. Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg [...] each put in $100,000..
  15. Web site: New Details Show How Deeply Iowa Caucus App Developer Was Embedded in Democratic Establishment. February 4, 2020.
  16. Web site: Become an FT subscriber to read | Financial Times.
  17. News: Soo Rin Kim . What to know about Shadow Inc., the vendor behind Iowa Democrats' caucus app . 6 February 2020 . ABC . 4 February 2020 . under the leadership of McGowan, who was also previously the director of strategy with Priorities USA, one of the largest Democratic-aligned outside groups, PACRONYM raised more than $7 million, receiving a series of eight-figure checks from wealthy supporters including financier Seth Klarman and Donald Sussman.
  18. News: Anna Massoglia . 'Dark money' networks hide political agendas behind fake news sites . 31 August 2020 . Open Secrets . 22 May 2020 . Democracy PAC, a super PAC created by George Soros in 2019 to influence the presidential election. FEC records show Democracy PAC shelled out $1.75 million to PACRONYM.
  19. News: Jeremy B. Merrill . Hanna Kozlowska . A well-heeled liberal group is filling the local news void with Trump-bashing coronavirus ads . 3 May 2020 . . 15 April 2020 . en. according to Federal Election Committee filings, top donors to Acronym's political action committee, Pacronym, hail from hedge funds, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood.
  20. News: Markay . Lachlan . How a Dem Dark-Money Group Is Invading the News . . November 22, 2019 . November 24, 2019.
  21. News: Cawthorne . Cameron . Liberal Dark Money Group Launches $1 Million Impeachment Ad Campaign . October 10, 2019 . November 24, 2019. .
  22. Web site: Warzel . Charlie . Can Democrats Compete With Trump's Twitter Feed? . The New York Times . November 1, 2019 . November 24, 2019.
  23. McGowan . Tara . taraemcg . 1085980913467564033 . I'm so excited to announce @anotheracronym has acquired Groundbase, the best CRM + SMS tool on the political market, along with their incredible team led by @gjniemira + are launching Shadow, a new tech company to build smarter infrastructure for campaigns . January 17, 2019 . February 3, 2020.
  24. News: Robillard . Kevin . This Is The Buzzy Democratic Firm That Botched The Iowa Caucuses . . February 3, 2020 . February 3, 2020.
  25. Web site: Shadow. https://web.archive.org/web/20190921140218/https://www.anotheracronym.org/introducing-shadow/. September 21, 2019.
  26. News: New Details Show How Deeply Iowa Caucus App Developer Was Embedded in Democratic Establishment . Fang . Lee . February 4, 2020 . February 5, 2020 . The Intercept.
  27. News: Sara Fischer . Progressive non-profit ACRONYM to invest $1M in local media effort . 7 February 2020 . Axios . 9 July 2019 . ACRONYM has invested in other for-profit companies, like Shadow Inc., a political technology company based in Denver.
  28. News: The Twitter Ads That Weren't . The New York Times . Nick . Corosaniti . 19 November 2019 . 21 May 2020.
  29. Web site: About Us. COURIER. en-US. February 4, 2020. February 4, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200204163008/https://couriernewsroom.com/about-us/. dead.
  30. Web site: Nonprofit Acronym Invests Over $1 million In 'The Dogwood' Site, Shores Up Local News. www.mediapost.com. Guaglione. Sarah. en. February 4, 2020.
  31. News: Goldmacher . Shane . Democratic Strategists Set Up $75 Million Digital Campaign to Counter Trump . November 4, 2019 . November 24, 2019 . The New York Times.
  32. Web site: One Year from Election Day 2020, Progressive Group Launches Massive Effort to Combat Trump Online. us16.campaign-archive.com. February 4, 2020.
  33. Web site: Pacronym: Expenditures, 2018 cycle. Open Secrets.
  34. News: Ye Hee Lee . Michelle . Democrats, anxious over Trump's money advantage, launch swing-state spending efforts . The Washington Post . November 19, 2019 . November 24, 2019.
  35. Web site: Fouriezos . Nick . Meet the Democrats' most dangerous digital strategist . . September 5, 2019 . November 24, 2019.
  36. Web site: HuffPost is now part of Verizon Media. February 4, 2020.
  37. Web site: FWIW. FWIW. 2021-09-10. fwiwnewsletter.substack.com.
  38. Web site: FWIW Newsletter. Acronym. en-US. February 4, 2020.
  39. Web site: FWIW Podcast. FWIW Podcast. en-US. November 29, 2019.
  40. Web site: The 'MVP' of Trump's 2016 Facebook Campaign Just Joined a Liberal Group Trying to Take Him Down. Uberti. David. November 23, 2019. Vice. en. November 29, 2019.

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