Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Money contributed to the FDD during first decade of its activity, based on calculations made by Christopher Bail, expanded by 442%.[14]

In 2011, news website ThinkProgress published FDD's Form 990 documents[15] that revealed the source of FDD's funds between 2001 and 2004. Top donors included:

• Roland Arnall: $1,802,000[16]
• Edgar M. and Charles Bronfman: $1,050,000[16]
• Michael Steinhardt: $850,000[16]
• Abramson Family Foundation (of Leonard Abramson): $822,523[16]
• Bernard Marcus: $600,000[16]
• Lewis Ranieri: $350,000[16]

Other notable donors:

• Haim Saban[16]
• Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi[16]
• Douglas J. Feith[16]

FDD's Schedule A documents filed by the end of the 2011 tax year, indicates that the organization from 2008 to 2011 was funded more than $20,000,000,[17] and the top three donors were:

• Bernard Marcus: $10,745,000[17]
• Paul Singer: $3,600,000[17]
• Sheldon Adelson: $1,510,059[17]

In 2018, AP reported that the United Arab Emirates has wired $2,500,000 to the FDD through Elliott Broidy and George Nader, to host a conference amidst Qatar diplomatic crisis about the country's role as a state-sponsor of terrorism.[18] FDD stated that it does not accept money from foreign governments, adding that "[a]s is our funding policy, we asked if his funding was connected to any foreign governments or if he had business contracts in the Gulf. He assured us that he did not".[18]

Adam Hanieh states that the FDD high-profile conference of 23 May 2017 was in line with UAE's policy at the time, which officially alleged that Qatar finances Islamist groups, adding that emails leaked shortly after show that UAE's Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba had a "cosy relationship" with the FDD, and had reviewed the remarks made by Robert Gates at the convention.[19] Qatar appeared to be in compliance with the terms of the agreement for countering terrorism and not supporting extremists from its territory according to the report published by The Washington Post in February 2021. According to documents obtained by Al Arabiya published on July 10, 2017, Qatar had agreed to stop providing support to the Muslim Brotherhood, expelled non-citizen Brothers from Qatar, and would not shelter any persons from GCC countries to avoid undermining relations with the Gulf.[20]

Additionally, it is known that as of 2016, FDD has received donations from the following institutions:

FDD and its CEO, Mark Dubowitz, have been sanctioned by Iran for advocating sanctions against Iran and working to end the Iranian nuclear deal.[25][26][27]

FDD's Iran Program is led by CEO Mark Dubowitz.[28][29]

In 2008, FDD founded the Iran Energy Project which "conducts extensive research on ways to deny the Iranian regime the profits of its energy sector".[30] The Wall Street Journal credited FDD with bringing "the idea of gasoline sanctions to political attention."[31] The organization pushed for sanctions against the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its use of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to perform transactions.

For years, Syria has been a focus of FDD's research because of its alignment with Iran and support for organizations such as Hezbollah.[32] In 2012, as the Arab Spring spread to Syria, FDD launched "The Syria Project" to support dissident efforts in removing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from power.[33] In that effort, FDD facilitated a Skype call between dissidents and U.S. journalists in 2012.[34]

The Long War Journal is a FDD project dedicated to reporting the Global War on Terror launched by the United States and its allies following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Under the direction of FDD senior fellows Bill Roggio and Thomas Joscelyn, this website covers stories about countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Iraq and follows the actions of al Qaeda and its affiliates.[35] According to the Columbia Journalism Review, "Roggio's greatest service, then, may be the way he picks up where the mainstream press leaves off, giving readers a simultaneously more specific and holistic understanding of the battlefield", but says that "...there have been times when Roggio has done himself a disservice by aligning with bloggers who are more about pushing a conservative agenda."[36]

When it was announced in October 2021 that President Joe Biden's top diplomat for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, was stepping down, Bill Roggio of the FDD said, "It is about time he stopped stealing money from the US government. He shoulders a large amount of the blame for shilling for the Taliban."[37]

• Clifford May, President[7]
• Mark Dubowitz, CEO[3]
• Toby Dershowitz, Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Strategy[7]
• Tyler Stapleton, Deputy for Congressional Relations[3]
• John Hannah, Senior Counselor
• Bill McCarthy, COO
• Lawrence Muscant, Senior Vice President
• Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President for Research[7]

Former staff include:

• Nir Boms (President)[7]

As of 2005, members of FDD's board of directors were:

• Steve Forbes[38]
• Jack Kemp[38]
• Jeane Kirkpatrick[38]

The following people served as advisors to FDD as of 2005:

• Newt Gingrich[38]
• James Woolsey[38]
• Bill Kristol[38]
• Richard Perle[38]

• Walid Phares
• Michael Ledeen
• Emanuele Ottolenghi
• Olli Heinonen
• Orde Kittrie
• Cleo Paskal[39]

Christopher A. Bail, professor of sociology, public policy and data science at Duke University, describes FDD as an "anti-Muslim fringe organization" that has tried to establish itself as a legitimate authority on Islam and terrorism by tactically using "ethnic experts" —i.e. pundits with Middle Eastern background who were not Muslim— because they advocate views contrary to the mainstream perspective of the Muslim community in the United States, but look like and talk like Muslims.[47]

Sarah Marusek, research fellow at University of Johannesburg, argues that FDD is one of the "key organizations peddling Islamophobia" in a "transatlantic network".[48] Farid Hafez, researcher at Universität Salzburg, asserts the same.[49]