The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights nonprofit now facing federal fraud charges, has received funding from high-profile donors including billionaire George Soros, JPMorgan Chase, actor George Clooney, and OpenAI.

A new report published Wednesday highlighted these contributions as the organization grapples with an 11-count indictment unsealed Tuesday by the Department of Justice. Prosecutors allege the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million to leaders of hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and others, between 2014 and 2023. The payments purportedly went beyond intelligence gathering to fund hate content and extremist events, misleading donors and law enforcement.

One informant, identified only as "F-37" and linked to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, received $270,000 from the SPLC between 2015 and 2023, according to the indictment. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel announced the charges, accusing the group of wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy.

The SPLC holds more than $786 million in assets and collected $106 million in donations in 2024 alone, yet continued urgent fundraising appeals. CharityWatch gives the organization an "F" rating for maintaining assets exceeding five years of operating expenses.

Donations surged after the 2017 Charlottesville violence, which killed one counterprotester. That year, Clooney's foundation contributed $1 million. JPMorgan donated an additional $500,000 for "disaster relief." Former Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged $1 million, and MGM Resorts matched employee gifts to the SPLC and similar groups.

Soros's Open Society Foundations granted $75,000 in 2016 to support an "Anti-Hate Table" initiative. Public records also show smaller donations from Chick-fil-A, OpenAI, and 343 Industries, the studio behind the Halo video game series. One report specified OpenAI's contribution at $11,000.

The SPLC maintains it has used informants inside hate groups since the 1980s to gather intelligence and dismantle them. The organization denies the fraud allegations and vows to contest the charges in court.

Liora Rez, founder of StopAntisemitism, criticized the practices. "It’s unimaginable to us that a civil rights group would gin up fake bigotry to solicit donations from concerned Americans," she told the Post. "If this is what the SPLC did, it is shameful and outrageous."

The indictment has renewed scrutiny of the SPLC, long criticized for designating conservative and Christian organizations as hate groups. Groups like the Family Research Council have cited its "hate map" in past security threats. The case stems from a Trump administration probe into the nonprofit's operations.