What Does the Public Record Show About Amy Acton’s Nonprofit and Campaign Money?
Nonprofit Grants
The Columbus Foundation made grants to organizations including Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, the ACLU of Ohio, Food & Water Watch, and CAIR Ohio while Acton served as grants manager there from 2017 to 2019. The Foundation, not Acton individually, is the grantmaker of record.
Source: Columbus Foundation FY2017 Form 990; FY2018 Form 990 (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer).
Nonprofit Compensation
In 2023, Acton earned $212,684 in salary plus $8,319 in other compensation as president and CEO of the Rapid 5 Project, a Franklin County parks and trails nonprofit where she was the organization’s only paid employee that year.
Source: Rapid 5 Project FY2023 Form 990 (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer).
Campaign Contributions
Acton’s 2026 campaign committee, Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper, has raised approximately $15.9 million in total contributions per a semiannual campaign-finance report covering January 1–June 30, 2026, with the Ohio Democratic Party State Candidate Fund and a range of labor-union and issue-advocacy PACs as its largest organizational contributors.
Source: Ohio Secretary of State, CFDISCLOSURE Committee Page (Entity ID 16171) (primary filing); Transparency USA (secondary discovery source). Retrieved 09/29/2026.
These records establish funding and institutional relationships; they do not, by themselves, establish that Acton personally approved any individual grant or that any campaign contribution was improper.
Sources for This Answer
| Source | Source URL |
|---|---|
| Columbus Foundation grants to Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Food & Water Watch, and CAIR Ohio (2017–2019 tenure). | FY2017 Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/316044264/201743129349300519/full FY2018 Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/316044264/201903159349301520/full |
| Ohioans for Amy Acton total contributions (~$15.9M) and Ohio Democratic Party State Candidate Fund as largest contributor. | Transparency USA: https://www.transparencyusa.org/oh/candidate/amy-acton/contributors |
Full sourcing for each individual claim is also provided in the Columbus Foundation Grant Record, Nonprofit Compensation, Campaign Contributions, and Sources & Evidence tables below.
Columbus Foundation Grant Record (2017–2018)
From 2017 to 2019, Amy Acton served as grants manager at The Columbus Foundation, a Columbus-based community foundation. The grants below were made by the Foundation during that period. The Foundation, not Acton individually, is the grantmaker of record; the public filings cited here do not show grant-by-grant personal approval by Acton.
Cumulative Totals by Recipient (2017–2018 combined)
| Recipient Organization | Cumulative Amount (2017–2018) | Years Included |
|---|---|---|
| Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio | $516,617 | 2017 + 2018 |
| ACLU of Ohio | $1,077,915 | 2017 + 2018 |
| The Harmony Project | $1,171,056 | 2017 + 2018 |
| Besa Community, Inc. | $150,058 | 2017 + 2018 |
| CAIR Ohio (American Islamic Relations Council) | $125,000 | 2017 + 2018 |
| Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services | $66,000 | 2017 + 2018 |
| Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio | $49,000 | 2017 only |
| Community Refugee and Immigration Services | $47,000 | 2017 only |
| Foundation for National Progress | $50,000 | 2017 only |
| Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus | $15,000 | 2017 only |
| Black Star Project | $10,000 | 2017 only |
| Africa Yoga Project | $5,000 | 2017 only |
| Food & Water Watch | $8,050,000* | 2018 only |
Cumulative total across all grants listed above (2017–2018 combined): $11,332,646*.
Nonprofit Compensation
Acton’s compensation in nonprofit leadership roles, drawn from each organization’s own Form 990 filing.
| Organization | Role | Compensation | Year | Source URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid 5 Project | President & CEO | $212,684 salary + $8,319 other compensation; sole paid employee per filing. | 2023 | https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/874564973/202401369349315405/full |
| Ohio Medical Quality Foundation | Trustee (unpaid) | $0 (unpaid, per Form 990). | 2019–2020 | https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311443110/202013159349301126/full |
Campaign Contributions (Institutional / PAC)
Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper (the official name of Acton’s gubernatorial campaign committee, reflecting running mate David Pepper) has raised approximately $15.9 million in total campaign contributions, as reported on its semiannual campaign-finance report covering January 1–June 30, 2026 (the report Ohio requires by the July 31 deadline).
Primary source: Ohio Secretary of State, CFDISCLOSURE Committee Page — Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper (Entity ID 16171). The entity ID (16171) matches the identifier Transparency USA uses for this same committee, corroborating the match. Secondary discovery source: Transparency USA, Amy Acton Contributors (Ohio filings, data through 06/30/2026). Retrieved 09/29/2026.
That $15.9 million total includes individual donors as well as institutional and PAC money; the table below is limited to organizational and PAC-level contributors, consistent with this hub’s “institutional money” focus. The single largest institutional contributor is the Ohio Democratic Party State Candidate Fund; the next largest are labor-union PACs.
Source: Transparency USA, Amy Acton Contributors (Ohio campaign-finance filings, data through 06/30/2026), cross-referenced with committee-level pages linked above. A fuller line-item list, including individual (non-institutional) donors, is available directly through Transparency USA and the Ohio Secretary of State portal; this table is scoped to institutional and PAC contributions consistent with the hub’s “institutional money” focus.
Endorsement note: organizations such as Planned Parenthood, EMILYs List, and 314 Action are associated with the Acton campaign primarily through public endorsements; EMILYs List and 314 Action Victory Fund also appear above as direct PAC contributors, at the levels shown. Planned Parenthood does not appear as a direct PAC contributor in the filings reviewed for this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Public tax filings show grants to organizations including Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, the ACLU of Ohio, Food & Water Watch, CAIR Ohio, the Harmony Project, Besa Community, and several immigrant- and refugee-service groups during Acton’s 2017–2019 tenure as grants manager.
Sources:
The source record establishes that The Columbus Foundation made the grants while Acton served as grants manager. It does not establish that she personally approved each grant, and this page does not make that claim.
Sources:
Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper has raised approximately $15.9 million overall, per a semiannual report covering January 1–June 30, 2026. The largest organizational contributor is the Ohio Democratic Party State Candidate Fund (~$695,000); the next-largest organizational contributors are labor-union PACs such as SEIU District 1199 and OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11, along with issue-advocacy PACs including 314 Action Victory Fund and EMILYs List. Most of the $15.9 million total, however, comes from individual donors rather than PACs; readers should check the current Ohio Secretary of State filing or Transparency USA for up-to-date totals.
Sources:
The 2023 nonprofit filing cited above lists $212,684 in salary and $8,319 in other compensation for Acton as president and CEO, and identifies her as the organization’s only paid employee that year.
Sources & Evidence
Primary government, IRS, and organizational filings are listed first, followed by the internal research dossier used to compile this page.
| Claim Supported | Source Name | Source URL | Primary / Reporting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus Foundation 2017 grant amounts (Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Harmony Project, Besa, CAIR Ohio, Diversity Center, CRIS, ETSS, Foundation for National Progress, Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus, Black Star Project, Africa Yoga Project). | The Columbus Foundation, FY2017 Form 990 (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer) | https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/316044264/201743129349300519/full | Primary (IRS Form 990) |
| Columbus Foundation 2018 grant amounts (Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Harmony Project, Besa, CAIR Ohio, ETSS, Food & Water Watch). | The Columbus Foundation, FY2018 Form 990 (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer) | https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/316044264/201903159349301520/full | Primary (IRS Form 990) |
| Columbus Foundation organization profile / entity verification. | The Columbus Foundation, Organization Profile (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer) | https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/316044264 | Primary (IRS Form 990 aggregator) |
| Rapid 5 Project 2023 compensation: $212,684 salary + $8,319 other compensation; sole paid employee. | ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Rapid 5 Project 2023 Form 990 | https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/874564973/202401369349315405/full | Primary (nonprofit filing) |
| Ohio Medical Quality Foundation trustee role, 2019–2020, unpaid. | ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Ohio Medical Quality Foundation Form 990 | https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311443110/202013159349301126/full | Primary (nonprofit filing) |
| Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper total contributions (~$15.9M), semiannual report, January 1–June 30, 2026. | Ohio Secretary of State, CFDISCLOSURE Committee Page — Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper (Entity ID 16171) | https://www6.ohiosos.gov/ords/f?p=CFDISCLOSURE:45:13877648699576::NO::P45_ENTITY_ID:16171 | Primary (government filing) |
| Organizational / PAC contribution totals to Ohioans for Amy Acton and David Pepper data through 06/30/2026, and approximate $15.9M total-raised figure. | Transparency USA, Amy Acton Contributors (Ohio filings, data through 06/30/2026) | https://www.transparencyusa.org/oh/candidate/amy-acton/contributors | Secondary (data aggregator of primary Ohio filings) |
| Federal contribution search / cross-check (used for verification, not for a specific claim on this page). | Federal Election Commission, Individual Contributions Search | https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/ | Primary (government) |