14 Oct 2011 GroupSnoop.org Launches to Provide Background, Data on Nation’s Most Influential Public Policy Non-Profits

Washington, D.C. – The National Center For Public Policy Research announces today the launch of its new educational website, GroupSnoop.org, to provide a candid, documented analysis of the work and impact of the nation’s most influential public policy-oriented non-profits.

“This is about accountability and transparency,” said National Center General Counsel Justin Danhof. “Even though they operate in the public sphere, until today, much about many of these groups was unknown or difficult to ascertain. Not anymore. Citizens now have a much-needed resource that shines light on non-profits, political action committees, foundations and advocacy organizations.”

GroupSnoop.org entries evaluate each organization: its formation, mission, activities and financial backers.

“From Greenpeace to the Ford Foundation, non-profits often have unseen influence in the day-to-day lives of average Americans. Non-profits influence everything from labor laws, to the price of electricity, to the cars we drive and everything in between. GroupSnoop.org fills a void by offering critical analysis and frank assessment,” said Danhof.

“GroupSnoop.org fills an information void in part because the facts it presents are documented,” said Amy Ridenour, president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. “Too many other websites about public policy groups are so sloppily done they are worse than useless. Wikipedia has some excellent entries, but others are pitiful jokes. Any usefulness that survives the bias of the Center for Media and Democracy’s ‘SourceWatch’ is compromised by its stunning inaccuracies – ‘SourceWatch’ can’t even get addresses right. Greenpeace apparently lost interest in its ‘Exxon Secrets’ website soon after launching it, which is understandable, as Exxon always makes its donations list public, so there weren’t any secrets to expose. Yet people have continued to use these websites and others like them for ‘information’ – I use that term loosely – because their longevity makes them pop up prominently in Google searches.”

GroupSnoop.org launches today with nearly two-dozen documented entries with many more to follow in coming weeks.

The National Center For Public Policy Research is a conservative, free-market, non-profit think-tank established in 1982. Its 2010 revenues were over $12 million. It is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 individual recent supporters, receiving about one percent of its revenue from corporate sources. Contributions to it are tax-deductible.

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