the America250 Commission?

September 9, 2022 1:08 PM

My little town's councilpeople will be voting next week to support the America250 Commission. I had not heard of this project till now, and it remains to be seen whether they intend financial as well as moral support (but the website offers many clickboxes for donating). I have never heard of a single one of the many individuals listed under "Leadership" and the language describing the project is pretty vague. Random glances at some of the bios sugggests that it might not be as inclusive as described. Are any of you familiar with it?
posted by mmiddle to Law & Government (10 answers total)

Best answer: A recent WaPo article (Archive) says there is a pending lawsuit against them.

From the article:

...alleging the foundation had done nothing to further its mission, instead corruptly funneling federal funds to its leadership and favored contractors in a toxic, sexist environment.

The complaint alleged “cronyism, self-dealing, mismanagement of funds, potentially unlawful contracting practices and wasteful spending.”

“This was run by a cabal,” Burchard said of the foundation. “Everything had to go through the cabal.”

Burchard is one of four female executives who filed a federal suit against America 250 in February, saying they had no choice but to resign from an organization that paid them less than male employees and ignored them when they raised concerns about its purpose and business practices.

posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:20 PM on September 9, 2022 [6 favorites]

Cutting to the chase through the web site, it sounds like on some level they're supposed to be the planning committee for the nation's 250th Anniversary; kind of like how we had a huge whoop-te-do for the Bicentennial in 1976. It'll be the Semiquincentennial in only 4 years.

Based on DirtyOldTown's finding, though, it sounds like even if the foundation was supposed to be doing that, they aren't.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:54 PM on September 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

I was immediately turned off by the home page:

Support America250 by participating in the national tradition of generosity. With your donation, help America250 create a historic and dynamic celebration.

Participate in America's spirit of generosity... by giving us money.

No thank you.

And as much as I'd love a semiquincentennial party, the United States has a lot of work to do before that can happen.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 2:09 PM on September 9, 2022 [5 favorites]

Would you hire those people to throw a party? I mean c'mon where's Billy Porter or Lin Manuel Miranda or countless other artists amd producers who actually know something about planning an exciting, cool, meaningful event.
posted by brookeb at 3:07 PM on September 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

Participate in America's spirit of generosity... by giving us money

It's a nonprofit...
posted by kevinbelt at 6:10 PM on September 9, 2022

It's a nonprofit...

Just because it's registered as a nonprofit does not mean it is above-board or there is nothing shady going on.
posted by tubedogg at 12:48 AM on September 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Of course not. But to act like it’s somehow shady for a nonprofit to solicit donations is bizarre.
posted by kevinbelt at 5:18 AM on September 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: It's the context that makes it shady, not the solicitation alone.
posted by mmiddle at 5:54 AM on September 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

It's also the phrasing.

When I read the first sentence, "Support America250 by participating in the national tradition of generosity," I expected them to encourage you to donate to a food pantry, volunteer locally, or give back to your community. Instead they asked for a donation for themselves. It had a very Trumpist "Only I can save America" feel to it.

I wouldn't have had any problem with them saying, "donate to support our work", but I found it distasteful to have them equate patriotism with giving them money. A communication fail like that on the home page indicates to me that the organization doesn't have clarity on their mission or their messaging.

Combine that with the quote from the Washington Post article ("alleging the foundation had done nothing to further its mission, instead corruptly funneling federal funds to its leadership and favored contractors") and I come back with a hard no.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:57 AM on September 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

It's a real federal commission - they report to the Feds and are currently budgeted about 8 million, which is mostly (6 mil via their 990) directed to the Semiquincentennial Commissio. Right now they 'raising awareness' and seeking support from government entities, corporations and the public.

They expect to need about 300 million for their whole plan, mostly raised through sponsorships. It's one of those public/private arrangements, and they don't expect to really raise much $$ directly from the actual public.
posted by zenon at 12:52 PM on September 10, 2022