Acronym (organization)

McGowan and Dubin co-founded Acronym in 2017{{cite web|last=McCammond |first=Alexi |url=https://www.axios.com/digital-first-startup-launches-to-elect-progressive-dems-1513306464-dc2e8881-2419-44ec-950f-8c5d3ba6e4b6.html |title=Digital-first startup launches to elect progressive Dems |website=Axios |date=October 26, 2017 |accessdate=November 24, 2019}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/02/04/us/politics/ap-us-election-2020-app.html |date=February 4, 2020 |title=Maker of Glitchy Iowa Caucus App Has Democratic Party Ties |work=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|access-date=February 5, 2020}} with the stated intention of "advancing progressive causes through innovative communications, advertising, and organizing programs".{{cite web |url=https://www.anotheracronym.org/about/ |title=About ACRONYM |website=Acronym |access-date=February 5, 2020}} Since then, Acronym has made significant investments in digital media campaigns that aim to register voters. Within just over a year of its founding, Acronym had raised tens of millions of dollars for digital advertising campaigns, running more than 100 ad campaigns and registering 60,000 voters.

In 2019, Acronym launched the Courier Newsroom,{{cite news |last1=Emily Stewart |title=Acronym, the dark money group behind the Iowa caucuses app meltdown, explained |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/acronym-the-dark-money-group-behind-the-iowa-caucuses-app-meltdown-explained/ar-BBZGWs2?li=BBm5HwI |accessdate=February 7, 2020 |work=MSN |date=6 February 2020 |quote=the Courier Newsroom, a for-profit media company under Acronym's umbrella that runs multiple local sites that deliver left-slanted news}} a digital for-profit media company which publishes what appear to be local pseudo-news outlets but which are actually Democratic Party propaganda efforts.{{cite news |last1=Hasen |first1=Richard |title=If Democrats fight right-wing "fake news" fire with fire, we all lose |url=https://www.salon.com/2020/02/23/if-democrats-fight-right-wing-fake-news-fire-with-fire-we-all-lose/ |accessdate=28 May 2020 |work=Salon |date=February 23, 2020}}{{efn|Courier Newsroom, which Bloomberg called "a liberal, digital spin on local news."{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-acronym-the-tech-consultancy-behind-the-disastrous-iowa-caucus-app|title=Inside Acronym, the Tech Consultancy Behind the Disastrous Iowa-Caucus App|first=Andrew|last=Marantz|magazine=The New Yorker|date=February 6, 2020|accessdate=February 7, 2020}}}}{{cite news |last1=Massoglia |first1=Anna |title='Dark money' networks hide political agendas behind fake news sites |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/05/dark-money-networks-fake-news-sites/| publisher=OpenSecrets |date=May 22, 2020}} The creation and operation of Courier Newsroom has raised outrage and ethics questions about Acronym and its donors, who include billionaires Reid Hoffman and Laurene Powell Jobs.{{cite news |last1=ALEX THOMPSON |title=Newsroom or PAC? Liberal group muddies online information wars |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/14/newsroom-pac-liberal-info-wars-356800 |accessdate=5 September 2020 |work=Politico |date=14 July 2020 |quote=Acronym — a sprawling digital organization whose programs include millions of dollars in traditional political advertising and voter engagement efforts, with financing from some of the deepest pockets in progressive politics, such as liberal billionaires Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, and Laurene Powell Jobs, the majority owner of The Atlantic — has stirred outrage and provoked debate about the ethics of such political tactics}}

In November 2020, Fast Company called Acronym "the Democrats' most advanced digital advertising project."{{Cite web|last=Pasternack|first=Alex|date=2020-11-02|title=This data expert helped Trump win. Now he's built a machine to take him down|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90570689/acronym-james-barnes-facebook-2020-campaign-advertising|access-date=2020-11-02|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}}

Acronym's backers include Michael Dubin (founder of Dollar Shave Club), Reid Hoffman, and Laurene Powell Jobs.{{cite news |last1=Jim Rutenberg |last2=Matthew Rosenberg |title=Trump Won the Internet. Democrats Are Scrambling to Take It Back |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/us/politics/democrats-digital-strategy.html |accessdate=31 August 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=30 March 2020 |language=en |quote=Another initiative went more smoothly, at least at first. It was called Acronym; among its backers were the Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin, Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Powell Jobs.}}

Acronym's affiliated organizations and political action committee (PAC) donors include organisations linked to high-profile Americans like the director Steven Spielberg and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.{{efn|Acronym's affiliated PAC and web of other organizations are funded with millions from high-profile Democrats including director Steven Spielberg and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman}} Other donors of $100,000 or more include Kate Capshaw, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Mimi Haas.{{cite news |last1=Ari Levy |title=Top Hollywood celebrities and Silicon Valley investors are linked to the app that failed in Iowa |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/top-hollywood-celebrities-and-silicon-valley-investors-are-linked-to-the-app-that-failed-in-iowa/ar-BBZDXcG |accessdate=3 May 2020 |work=MSN |agency=CNBC |date=4 February 2020 |language=en |quote=Mimi Haas, who's not in tech but is a major Bay Area figure and the widow of Peter Haas of the Levi Strauss family [...] Director Steven Spielberg contributed $500,000 to Pacronym as did his wife, the actress Kate Capshaw. Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg [...] each put in $100,000.}} Acronym's PAC, PACRONYM, has further received "eight-figure checks" from financiers Seth Klarman and Donald Sussman, from venture capitalist Michael Moritz,{{Cite web | url=https://theintercept.com/2020/02/04/iowa-caucus-app-shadow-acronym | title=New Details Show How Deeply Iowa Caucus App Developer Was Embedded in Democratic Establishment| date=February 4, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b8083680-4741-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441|title=Become an FT subscriber to read | Financial Times|work=Financial Times |date=February 4, 2020 |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Tim }}{{cite news |last1=Soo Rin Kim |title=What to know about Shadow Inc., the vendor behind Iowa Democrats' caucus app |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/shadow-vendor-iowa-dems-reporting-app/story?id=68754002 |accessdate=6 February 2020 |work=ABC |date=4 February 2020 |quote=under the leadership of McGowan, who was also previously the director of strategy with Priorities USA, one of the largest Democratic-aligned outside groups, PACRONYM raised more than $7 million, receiving a series of eight-figure checks from wealthy supporters including financier Seth Klarman and Donald Sussman}} and from George Soros's Democracy PAC.{{cite news |last1=Anna Massoglia |title='Dark money' networks hide political agendas behind fake news sites |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/05/dark-money-networks-fake-news-sites/ |accessdate=31 August 2020 |work=Open Secrets |date=22 May 2020 |quote=Democracy PAC, a super PAC created by George Soros in 2019 to influence the presidential election. FEC records show Democracy PAC shelled out $1.75 million to PACRONYM}} Quartz summarized the top donors to PACRONYM as "hedge funds, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood."{{cite news |last1=Jeremy B. Merrill |last2=Hanna Kozlowska |title=A well-heeled liberal group is filling the local news void with Trump-bashing coronavirus ads |url=https://qz.com/1837224/well-funded-liberal-news-network-pushes-partisan-covid-19-content/ |accessdate=3 May 2020 |work=Quartz (publication) |date=15 April 2020 |language=en|quote=according to Federal Election Committee filings, top donors to Acronym's political action committee, Pacronym, hail from hedge funds, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood}}

Because of the substantial volume of money that it has raised, and because of its status as a 501(c)(4) political nonprofit organization that is not required to disclose the donations it receives, Acronym has been widely described as a dark money group.{{cite news |last=Markay |first=Lachlan |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-dem-dark-money-group-is-invading-the-news |title=How a Dem Dark-Money Group Is Invading the News |website=The Daily Beast |date=November 22, 2019 |accessdate=November 24, 2019}} {{subscription required}}{{cite news |last=Cawthorne |first=Cameron |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-dem-dark-money-group-is-invading-the-news |title=Liberal Dark Money Group Launches $1 Million Impeachment Ad Campaign |date=October 10, 2019 |accessdate=November 24, 2019|website=The Daily Beast }} Acronym, like other dark money groups, has received criticism for the lack of transparency in its funding structure, although McGowan and others have defended the 501(c)(4) funding structure as a useful innovation for progressive advertising groups to adopt.{{cite web |last=Warzel |first=Charlie |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/01/opinion/democrats-2020-election-online.html |title=Can Democrats Compete With Trump's Twitter Feed? |work=The New York Times |date=November 1, 2019 |accessdate=November 24, 2019}}

In 2019, the Iowa Democratic Party paid $63,000 to Shadow, Inc., a for-profit software company acquired by Acronym, to create a mobile application (app) to tally results from the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses.{{cite tweet |last=McGowan |first=Tara |user=taraemcg |number=1085980913467564033 |title=I'm so excited to announce @anotheracronym has acquired Groundbase, the best CRM + SMS tool on the political market, along with their incredible team led by @gjniemira + are launching Shadow, a new tech company to build smarter infrastructure for campaigns |date=January 17, 2019 |accessdate=February 3, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Robillard |first=Kevin |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/iowa-caucus-app-shadow_n_5e390191c5b687dacc722824 |title=This Is The Buzzy Democratic Firm That Botched The Iowa Caucuses |website=Huffington Post |date=February 3, 2020 |accessdate=February 3, 2020}} Shadow, Inc. was created{{Cite web | url=https://www.anotheracronym.org/introducing-shadow/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921140218/https://www.anotheracronym.org/introducing-shadow/| archive-date=September 21, 2019| title=Shadow}} in 2019 by Acronym when they acquired the technology firm Groundbase from Gerard Niemira, who was then made CEO of Shadow, Inc.{{cite news |url=https://theintercept.com/2020/02/04/iowa-caucus-app-shadow-acronym/ |title=New Details Show How Deeply Iowa Caucus App Developer Was Embedded in Democratic Establishment |last=Fang |first=Lee |date=February 4, 2020 |access-date=February 5, 2020 |work=The Intercept}} Niemira had also previously served as chief operating officer and chief technology officer of Acronym prior to being CEO of Shadow, Inc.{{cite news |last1=Sara Fischer |title=Progressive non-profit ACRONYM to invest $1M in local media effort |url=https://www.axios.com/acronym-investment-dogwood-31891461-9f8c-474c-b94e-5bd7d113e077.html |accessdate=7 February 2020 |work=Axios |date=9 July 2019 |quote=ACRONYM has invested in other for-profit companies, like Shadow Inc., a political technology company based in Denver}}

In the wake of Acronym's involvement in the 2020 Iowa Caucuses' vote tallying problems, McGowan downplayed Acronym's connection to the app Shadow that was responsible for delays and inconsistencies in reporting election results. A report in The Intercept, however, found that "internal company documents, a source close to the firms, and public records show a close and intertwined relationship between Acronym and Shadow." ACRONYM later divested its interest in Shadow Inc.

In addition to Shadow, Inc., Acronym has owned several for-profit corporations, including the digital strategy firm Lockwood Strategy and the media company FWIW Media. Acronym planned to launch an apparel company called Rogue Swag, and later ran an apparel campaign under that name.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/19/us/politics/twitter-banned-political-ads.html |title=The Twitter Ads That Weren't |work=The New York Times |first=Nick |last=Corosaniti |date=19 November 2019 |access-date=21 May 2020}} Courier Newsroom, which describes itself as a "progressive media company", is also owned by Acronym.{{Cite web|url=https://couriernewsroom.com/about-us/|title=About Us|website=COURIER|language=en-US|access-date=February 4, 2020|archive-date=February 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204163008/https://couriernewsroom.com/about-us/|url-status=dead}} Courier Newsroom acts as a parent company for local news websites.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/338002/nonprofit-acronym-invests-over-1-million-in-the.html|title=Nonprofit Acronym Invests Over $1 million In 'The Dogwood' Site, Shores Up Local News|website=www.mediapost.com|last1=Guaglione|first1=Sarah|language=en|access-date=February 4, 2020}}

In November 2019, Acronym founder Tara McGowan announced that Acronym and its affiliated Super PAC, called Pacronym (and styled PACRONYM), would undertake a $75 million online advertising campaign targeting four potential swing states in the 2020 United States presidential election.{{cite news |last=Goldmacher |first=Shane |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/us/politics/democratic-political-campaign-advertising.html |title=Democratic Strategists Set Up $75 Million Digital Campaign to Counter Trump |date=November 4, 2019 |accessdate=November 24, 2019 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web|url=https://us16.campaign-archive.com/?u=1d5e1426fe8a4ffe93feab84f&id=590ba9ff12|title=One Year from Election Day 2020, Progressive Group Launches Massive Effort to Combat Trump Online|website=us16.campaign-archive.com|access-date=February 4, 2020}} Pacronym received $2,407,208 in 2018 and spent $1,000,000 (43%) the same year in payments to Lockwood Strategy, also owned by Acronym.{{cite web|url=https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenditures.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00646877|title=Pacronym: Expenditures, 2018 cycle|website=Open Secrets}} Since the campaign of incumbent president Donald Trump was reported to have a significant advantage in digital advertising during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, this large expenditure by a Democratic-aligned organisation was considered by many political strategists and media commentators to be a crucial safeguard for the Democratic Party against the risk of being outspent in digital advertising before their presidential nominee could be chosen.{{cite news |last=Ye Hee Lee |first=Michelle |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democrats-anxious-over-trumps-money-advantage-launch-swing-state-spending-efforts/2019/11/19/6c03d1e8-058a-11ea-b17d-8b867891d39d_story.html |title=Democrats, anxious over Trump's money advantage, launch swing-state spending efforts |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 19, 2019 |accessdate=November 24, 2019}} Nick Fouriezos of Ozy magazine identified Acronym, and McGowan's efforts in particular, as "one of the major forces shaping the Democrats' general-election fight against Donald Trump".{{cite web|last=Fouriezos |first=Nick |url=https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/meet-the-democrats-most-dangerous-digital-strategist/95569/ |title=Meet the Democrats' most dangerous digital strategist |magazine=Ozy |date=September 5, 2019 |accessdate=November 24, 2019}}

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emily's List, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Planned Parenthood have hired Acronym for digital organizing services.

David Plouffe, who was campaign manager for former president Barack Obama, serves on the board of directors of Acronym.{{Cite web | url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/iowa-caucus-app-shadow_n_5e390191c5b687dacc722824?ri18n=true&guccounter=1 |title = HuffPost is now part of Verizon Media|date = February 4, 2020}}

In 2018, Acronym started a weekly newsletter called FWIW (For What It's Worth),{{Cite web|last=FWIW|title=FWIW|url=https://fwiwnewsletter.substack.com/about|access-date=2021-09-10|website=fwiwnewsletter.substack.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.anotheracronym.org/fwiw/|title=FWIW Newsletter|website=Acronym|language=en-US|access-date=February 4, 2020}} and in 2020 created an accompanying podcast called the FWIW Podcast. The newsletter, closely associated with ("from", according to its website) Courier, won a Substack Featured Publication badge in 2023, and was still in regular production as of mid-2025, at which time it claimed to have "grown to reach over 24,000 subscribers across the country."{{Cite news |last=Ritzmann |first=Lucy |title=About - FWIW |url=https://www.fwiw.news/about |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250610202057/https://www.fwiw.news/about |archive-date=2025-06-10 |access-date=2025-07-08 |language=en}} Hosted by McGowan, the FWIW Podcast was a biweekly podcast about the digital race for the White House. Past guests included David Plouffe, Jeff Zeleny, and DNC CTO Nell Thomas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fwiwpodcast.com/|title=FWIW Podcast|website=FWIW Podcast|language=en-US|access-date=November 29, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-mvp-of-trumps-2016-facebook-campaign-just-joined-a-liberal-group-trying-to-take-him-down/|title=The 'MVP' of Trump's 2016 Facebook Campaign Just Joined a Liberal Group Trying to Take Him Down|last=Uberti|first=David|date=November 23, 2019|website=Vice|language=en|access-date=November 29, 2019}}

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{{reflist}}

• {{Official website}}

Category:501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations

Category:2017 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Category:Digital media organizations

Category:Democratic Party (United States) organizations

Category:Progressive organizations in the United States