[IGFmaglist] [Re:] About fund Tides

[Patrick Ryan]

Dear All,

The Tides fund is live.  Interested donors may do so by contacting Tides, or going here: http://www.tides.org/impact/funds-initiatives/friends-of-the-igf-fund/.  As discussed previously, this effort is not intended to be in any way an exclusive means of donations, and can compliment other efforts that are available (such as ISOC’s).  One advantage of Tides is that it is a registered 501(c)(3) and, because of that, donations made to it are tax deductible for U.S. entities.

Some MAG colleagues have also asked that we respond to the inquiry posed by Robert Schegel in the thread below.  The response from Tides is noted below:

"Tides is a registered, non-partisan 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in the U.S., with a 37-year track record of creating positive social change. We promote a healthy society founded on principles of social justice, broadly shared economic opportunity, a robust democratic process, and sustainable environmental practices. We provide tools to individuals and organizations in the U.S. and internationally to help make innovative ideas a reality. Our partnership with the UN through the Friends of the IGF Fund reflects our shared values and principles in supporting the United Nations Secretary-General in carrying out the mandate from the World Summit on the Information Society."

Any interested donors are free to contact Tides directly for further clarification.  Hopefully, there will be a donor’s ecosystem of sorts such that there will be many paths, creating an opportunity for donors to choose where and how they would like to bring funds to the IGF.

Patrick

On May 26, 2014, at 12:01 AM, Шлегель Р.А. <shlegel at duma.gov.ru> wrote:

> Honourable colleagues!
>  
> In response to the incoming questions on the letter of the Tides Foundation I announce that I have recieved the let t er from FoIGF/Tides Trust Fund dated May 19, 2014 within the mass mailing. The letter said: “Tides Foundation and the United Nations have partnered to establish a fund to advance the mission of the Internet Governance Forum (“IGF”)”.
> I did not want to politicize this topic, however, at the moment I consider necessary to clarify the following.
> The Tides Foundation finances a number of political projects of dubious nature both in Russia and in the USA. In particular The Foundation backed such Russian political organizations as“Agora” and “Golos”. These organizations provide support for political organizations that aspire to change the regime in Russia by all means.
> The Tides Foundation supported the protest movement “ Occupy Wall Street ”. Melissa L. Bradley said: “As the new Chief Executive Officer of Tides, I am thrilled that #OccupyWallStreet has emerged and continues to grow. Since our inception, Tides has supported such movements. Our commitment to racial, social, and economic justice within healthy communities remains strong after 35 years”. It should be recalled that “Occupy Wall Street” was contrary to law;   in the course of it more than 6 000 people were arrested, participants were also detained for such violations as arson, rape, theft and vandalism.
> 
>   The Tides Foundation supported the radical leftist organizations in the USA. According to the journalist Steve Baldwin more than 100 leftist organizations have received funding from the Foundation including radical environmentalists (Ruckus Society) that speak for violent struggle, radical islamists (CAIR), whose members were arrested for terroristic activity, organizations opposing the U.S. constitutional system such as the National Lawyers Guild and many others.
> The fund recieves financing from the highly politicized and odious Soros Foundation. In particular it is noted that “Soros has used the Tides Foundation to funnel money to more than two-dozen organizations”. The Fund is used to simulate the mass «national» support of civil society whereas is backed by a few number of people kind of Soros.  
> Below there are links to informational resources with supporting information.
> I do not want to give estimates for these actions, however they are considerably politicized. In my opinion, I repeat, organizations of such reputation should not be attracted to fund IGF.
> http://www.tides.org/fileadmin/user/pdf/Tides-Foundation-List-of-Grantees-2009.pdf
> http://www.tides.org/fileadmin/user/pdf/Tides-Foundation-List-of-Grantees-2005.pdf
> http://blog.tides.org/2011/10/12/why-we-support-the-occupywallstreet-movement/
> http://www.westernjournalism.com/exclusive-investigative-reports/who-funds-the-radical-left-in-america/
> http://sorosfiles.com/soros/2011/10/the-tides-foundation.html
> http :// habledash . com / political - insight /254- the - tides - foundation - the - heart - of - the -radical - left
>  
>  
> 
> 
> Patrick Ryan <patrickryan at google.com> писал(а):
> Dear Robert,
> 
> Welcome to the MAG. 
> 
> If you would like, I would be happy to set up some time to talk with you about Tides.  This has been a process that was initiated 16 months ago with many different inputs.  Some of the feedback that I received during the recent MAG meetings was that we should re-package it again so that everyone understands it better.  I am working on that, together with Anriette Esterhuysen, another MAG member. 
> 
> However, the allegations that you raise about Tides as an organization (and affiliations with the US government, the attack on the reputation) are things that I have never previously heard, and thus, is not something that I had previously thought was in need of attention.  If you could please provide some specifics, I would be happy to look into that.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Patrick
> 
> 
> On May 22, 2014, at 4:29 AM, Шлегель Р.А. <shlegel at duma.gov.ru > wrote:
> 
>> Honourable colleagues!
>>  
>> I suppose that effort to attract the fund Tides to organize financing of the IGF work is a mistaken desicion.
>> The particular fund was seen repeatedly in the processes of financing organizations with doubtful reputation. Besides it, this fund, perhaps, is over affilated with the US government.  
>> I suppose that the Internet governance in the whole and the IGF in particular should not depend on organization with such reputation.
>> 
>> Best regards,
>> Robert Shlegel
>> 
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> 
> 
> С уважением,
> Роберт Шлегель
> 
> Best regards,
> Robert Shlegel
> 

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