Money, politics and activism go hand in hand. A growing call to young people to vote with their dollar has sparked interest in the spending patterns of large corporations.
Social media creators have taken to platforms like TikTok and Instagram to denounce brands such as Starbucks and Sephora for their alleged political donations. Boycotts like these are an increasingly popular form of activism. However, tracking political contributions can be a lengthy and convoluted process rife with misinformation.
Starbucks experienced a widespread boycott amidst rising tensions in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The brand, accused of donating to the Israeli military, became the focus of a massive online campaign. In a fact check conducted by Snopes, Starbucks’s connection to the Israeli military was proven to be false.
Sephora received similar backlash following a TikTok video claiming that the company contributed to the Trump campaign during the 2024 election cycle. According to Reuters, the original video was not substantiated by donation records.
Luckily, there are resources available to make information about individual and corporate donations transparent to the public.
In Colorado, donations made by private individuals over $20 are on public record and must be disclosed to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). The FEC provides an Individual Contributions database comprised of donations from citizens, political action committees (PACs) and Fortune 500 companies.
Donations made by companies are subject to a different set of rules than individual contributors. Twenty-nine states, including Colorado, prohibit direct corporate campaign contributions. Companies can donate to tax-exempt political committees (527s) and trade associations. These organizations use donations to engage in political activity. The Center for Political Accountability provides a list of corporate spending rules.
Tracking company spending can be difficult because of rules regarding direct corporate donations to candidates, campaigns and causes. However, there are sites tracing corporate contributions, such as the OpenSecrets database and the Accountable.us Corporate Donations Tracker.
OpenSecrets provides a comprehensive breakdown of major corporations’ top recipients, sources of funds and lobbying information. Furthermore, OpenSecrets lists the partisan leanings of each organization’s donations and posts relevant data pertaining to election cycles.
The OpenSecrets profile on Starbucks Corp reveals no contributions to any pro-Israel PACs or the Israeli military. However, Starbucks is a publicly traded company owned in large part by investment firms like The Vanguard Group and BlackRock. Both companies have maintained controversial connections with Israel throughout the conflict.
As an affiliate of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Sephora USA donated a grand total of $0 to Republican candidates in 2024. Sephora’s donations to the Trump campaign are a prime example of misinformation.
Accountable.us features a Corporate Donations Tracker that specifies the corporation, amount contributed and the recipient of the donation. Colorado Springs’s own Doug Lamborn received a combined $24,500 from PACs connected to AT&T, Chevron and Lockheed Martin over the last four years. Congressman Lamborn represents Colorado’s fifth congressional district, including Colorado Springs.
Lamborn issued a press release in May 2023 that referenced Lockheed Martin alongside a host of defense companies that have “billions of dollars […] planned for investment in Colorado Springs.”
UCCS alumni River Gassen ran for House District 5 earlier this year. Gassen raised a total of $167,164 over the course of her campaign. According to OpenSecrets, Gassen received funds from the United Food & Commercial Workers Union and affiliates of the University of Colorado.
Donations to campaigns often reflect the primary issues and values of political candidates. As such, a refusal to support companies that give money to certain candidates or causes can be a powerful tool for shaping the political behaviors of corporations.
Young people are turning to boycotts to advocate for their beliefs, meaning that accessible resources for tracking political donations are more crucial than ever. Following the money can be an arduous process, but it is nonetheless essential for holding corporations accountable.
Photo courtesy of Open Secrets.