The First
FAC's Donor Circle
The First celebrates icons, journalists, activists, and attorneys who embody the rights and values FAC fights for every day — to speak truth to power, to publish uncomfortable facts, and to harness the power of the people to bring about change.
Join their fight — our fight. Join The First, a circle of supporters who understand their investment in FAC is essential to protect and promote government transparency, free expression, and freedom of the press. Protect our vital freedoms and be The First!
Levels and Benefits
Guardians: $250+
Guardians: $250+
Level Benefit
The First donor circle membership card
Ida Tarbell Muckrakers: $750+
Ida Tarbell Muckrakers: $750+
Level Benefit
All the gifts of previous levels, plus:
FAC Welcome Gift (updated annually)
Daniel Ellsberg Leaders: $1,000+
Daniel Ellsberg Leaders: $1,000+
Level Benefit
All the gifts of previous levels, plus:
Recognition on FAC’s website
Invitation to annual Zoom event with FAC leadership
Tim Giago Groundbreakers: $2,500+
Tim Giago Groundbreakers: $2,500+
Level Benefit
All the gifts of previous levels, plus:
Quarterly executive director’s update
Florence Perlow Shientag Trailblazers: $5,000+
Florence Perlow Shientag Trailblazers: $5,000+
Level Benefit
All the gifts of previous levels, plus:
Annual luncheon with FAC staff members in your area
Jovita Idar Gamechangers: $10,000+
Jovita Idar Gamechangers: $10,000+
Level Benefit
All the gifts of previous levels, plus:
Member of The First Guarantors of FAC’s legal work, including our Subpoena Defense Initiative and amicus projects, with a yearly update
John Lewis Champions: $20,000+
John Lewis Champions: $20,000+
Level Benefit
All the gifts above, plus:
Invitation to Sacramento to view our legislative advocacy work in action and lunch with FAC’s advocacy director
Ida B. Wells Visionaries: $25,000+
Ida B. Wells Visionaries: $25,000+
Level Benefit:
As available, an invitation to observe FAC’s Legal Director present oral arguments in court and join him for a private lunch
Customized Benefits
Ida Minerva Tarbell was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers and reformers of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was a pioneer of investigative journalism.
Daniel Ellsberg’s 1971 leak of the Pentagon Papers prompted a watershed moment in American politics, journalism, and the law, pitting the Nixon administration against the press in the U.S. Supreme Court case New York Times v. United States, which remains the bedrock of First Amendment law.
Tim Giago founded the first independently owned Native American newspaper in the United States, the Lakota Times, which expanded from a tiny operation on the Pine Ridge Reservation to cover all reservations in South Dakota and, eventually, Native American affairs nationwide. He renamed the paper Indian Country Today, which by 2005 was the largest Native American paper in the country. In 1984, he founded the Native American Journalists Association.
Florence Perlow Shientag was the first woman to argue a First Amendment free expression case before the U.S. Supreme Court, representing the Appellant in Superior Films v. Dept. of Education of Ohio, which struck down a state law that allowed administrative agencies to refuse movie licenses (a form of censorship).
Jovita Idar Vivero was an early 20th century American journalist, teacher, political activist, and civil rights worker who championed the cause of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants.
A source of inspiration for many of us, John Lewis was an American politician and civil rights activist and one of the “Big Six” leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington. Congressman Lewis served in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020.
Ida B. Wells was an investigative journalist, educator, and activist for women’s rights and the suffrage movement. An early leader in the civil rights movement, she was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).