Vitae Foundation
The Vitae Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization associated with the anti-abortion movement.
The group focuses on advertising research, developing more effective messaging, and communicating the results of this research to other anti-abortion organizations and persons, such as doctors and pastors, to provide them with more effective ways to persuade undecided women to forgo abortion.
Funding
In addition to individual donations, the Foundation receives some support from organizations. In fiscal year 2022 its largest grantor was the Schwab Charitable Fund, giving $197,750. It also runs a number of fundraising events, such as golf tournaments and dinners. The Foundation hosts an annual convention in Jefferson City.For 2022, the Charity Navigator gave Vitae Foundation a score of 99%, indicating an extremely high level of fiscal soundness and accountability, transparency, and leadership competence.
History
According to the organization, Carl Landwehr led the formation of what is now the Vitae Foundation in 1977.He came to define his mission with the question "How would you market the product of life if that was your business?" In 1993 Landwehr commissioned Charles Kenny of The Right Brain People to develop anti-abortion messaging that was not politically charged, confrontational, nor accusatory. Kenny helped develop a more low-key approach while echoing female empowerment themes from anti-abortion feminism.
Starting in 2015, Vitae Foundation ads have been run in radio broadcasts of baseball games of the Kansas City Royals on KCSP, and the Foundation also has signs at their ballpark, Kauffman Stadium. A former Royals all-star, employed by the team, voiced the Vitae Foundation radio ads. The Royals also honored a seventh-grade student who won an essay contest run by the Foundation on the subject of "Encouraging a Culture of Life" by inviting them to throw the honorary first pitch at a 2017 game. This prompted the abortion-rights organization UltraViolet to initiate an online petition demanding the Royals stop carrying Vitae Foundation messages and flew a banner, decrying the Royals' relationship with the Foundation, over the stadium during a game.