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Last Prisoner Project is the poster child association for cannabis advocacy and rights in the USA with the cause of getting non-violent cannabis prisoners out of Federal incarceration and back home with their families.
I can’t argue with that, you can’t argue with that and a host of celebs and cannabis companies are happy to fund them to the hilt as it makes for great PR and is a great way to assuage that nagging guilt that whilst they are minting money others are still locked up for the forseeable future.
They write in wrapping their 2024 report up….
We proudly participate in evaluations by charity monitoring groups. The Last Prisoner Project has achieved a Four-Star Charity designation from Charity Navigator and a Platinum Seal of Transparency Rating on Candid, the world’s largest source of information on non-profit organizations. These ratings puts us in the top 0.1% of charities nationally in terms of transparency.
Here’s a roll call of just a small percentage of the names that have supported the organisation over the past five years.
If there was a cannabis industry aristocracy this would be it
Ascend
Curaleaf
Jim Belushi
Leafly
Weedmaps
Wana
Dr Bronners
Dutchie
Ayr
Scotts
Leafly
Canopy
RAW
Pharmacann
Benzinga
TerrAscend
Truelieve
Two recent things popped into the CLR in-tray over December that gave me pause for thought on LPP how the organization defines itself and what it actually does as we move into 2026
Initially a linked in post about wages at the organisation and subsequently and entirel unrelated a source spoke to CLR asking the open question asking whether the organisation has moved from being a prisoner advocacy organisation to just being another policy outfit and all that that entails.
Then the open question. Will the Trump auto-pen issue undo their good work and should / have they made accomodations for the arbitray nature of the current administration
Firstly the most basi funtamental financials what’s coming in and what’s going out
All numbers are quoted as $USD
2020
In 2,075,822.65
Out 745,890.23
2021
In 3,608,667.00
Out 2,675,017.00
2022
In 3,388,551.00
Out 4,113,135.00
2023
In 2,974,496.00
Out 3,042,077.00
2024
In 2,266,193.00
Out 2,738,267.00
TOTAL
In 14,313,729.65
Out 13,314,386.23
Leaving them + 999,343.42 at end of reporting season 2024
The important thing to highlight is the 2020 & 2021 were the years that have supported the following years with 2024 clawing back the discrepancies of 23 & 24 but without a doubt the spend is up and analyzing that spend is the nub of the issue
If we look at how they then define their incomings and spending year by year
2020
IN
GENERAL DONATIONS: $1,134,071.89
PARTNERS FOR FREEDOM: $719,192.77
ROLL IT UP FOR JUSTICE: $181,363.79
SALES AND OTHER REVENUE: $41,194.20
OUT
PROGRAM SERVICES: $333,106.40
SUPPORT FUND: $195,706.88
MANAGEMENT & GENERAL: $111,990.41
DEVELOPMENT: $105,086.54
2021
IN
GENERAL DONATIONS: $1,164,241
PARTNERS FOR FREEDOM: $1,385,326
ROLL IT UP FOR JUSTICE: $1,005,246
SALES AND OTHER REVENUE: $53,854
OUT
PROGRAMS: $1,947,496
MANAGEMENT & GENERAL: $488,312
DEVELOPMENT: $239,209
2022
IN
GENERAL DONATIONS: $884,615
PARTNERS FOR FREEDOM: $1,556,129
ROLL IT UP FOR JUSTICE: $913,965
SALES AND OTHER REVENUE: $33,842
OUT
PROGRAMS: $3,098,156
MANAGEMENT & GENERAL: $605,865
DEVELOPMENT: $409,114
2023
IN
GENERAL DONATIONS: $649,886
PARTNERS FOR FREEDOM: $1,435,328
ROLL IT UP FOR JUSTICE: $859,678
SALES AND OTHER REVENUE $29,604
OUT
PROGRAMS: $2,511,538
MANAGEMENT: $251,365
DEVELOPMENT:$279,174
2024
IN
GENERAL DONATIONS: $619,379
PARTNERS FOR FREEDOM: $902,433
ROLL IT UP FOR JUSTICE: $704,325
SALES AND OTHER REVENUE $40,056
OUT
PROGRAMS: $2,270,151
MANAGEMENT & GENERAL: $192,916
DEVELOPMENT: $275,200
Patterns now start to emerge. On the in side general donations are on their way down and corporate donations are becoming increasingly important to the organisation via their Partners for Freedom & Roll It Up For Justice programs. There also seems to be a flatlining effect 2023-24 for these corporate donations which suggests in future years sales and marketing at the organisation wil become increasingly important as the big donors lose the desire to be seen as champions of those less fortunate.
Also RAW have just bought into the bottomless pit that is High Times, he’s known for being overly generous for the right reasons on these issues but how long can these organisations rely on sun king’s Kesselman’s royal like benificence.
Here’s the info from their finances page
https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/financial-information
The Last Prisoner Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, meaning gifts to the Last Prisoner Project are fully tax-deductible as allowed by law. Our Tax ID# is 83-4502829, and proof of our tax exempt status can be found here.
For questions on new or existing donations, contact us at info@lastprisonerproject.org.
Last Prisoner Project launched in September 2019. Every contribution helps fund our programs that make constituents “fully free”. In addition to ourrelease programs, we also help returning citizens rebuild their lives through ourreentry programs.Your contribution also ensures we can continue to work to pursue systemic reform through ourpolicy and advocacyinitiatives. Beyond release, record clearance, and reentry, your support allows us to help our incarcerated constituents access resources like food, healthcare, and phone calls by helping to fund their commissary accounts.
We proudly participate in evaluations by charity monitoring groups. The Last Prisoner Project has achieved a Four-Star Charity designation from Charity Navigator and a Platinum Seal of Transparency Rating on Candid, the world’s largest source of information on non-profit organizations. These ratings puts us in the top 0.1% of charities nationally in terms of transparency.
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Sean Hocking
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