Who funds and spreads the masculinity and pronatalist agenda, and where policy is following Case Three overlapping channels carry the masculinity and pronatalist agenda: institutional money (Heritage, funded largely through donor-advised funds and long-time conservative families), tech-world pronatalists with ties to the administration (Musk, Thiel, the Collinses), and a large online ecosystem of masculinity influencers reaching young men on YouTube and other platforms. Policy has begun to follow in places, including Trump Accounts, while some of what was floated, such as the baby bonus, has not been adopted so far. Institutional money: Heritage Heritage reported $133.9 million in revenue for fiscal 2024; Kevin Roberts, its president, was its top-paid officer. Heritage said it raised more than $150 million in cash and commitments in 2023, from more than 500,000 donors, and credited Project 2025 and its Oversight Project. Among its identifiable grants from 2019 to 2024, the largest came through donor-advised funds: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund ($8.4 million), National Christian Charitable Foundation ($6.2 million), Donor Advised Charitable Giving ($5.2 million), Vanguard Charitable, and DonorsTrust ($2.5 million). Donor-advised funds hide who the underlying donors are. Heritage is not required to disclose its funders; its early backing came from the Coors and Scaife families, and it has also received money via DonorsTrust, which Koch-linked funds have supported. DeSmog traced funding from six billionaire families, including the Coors family, to organizations advising Project 2025. Tech and pronatalist networks The pronatalist movement, which brings together parts of the religious right, tech figures and anti-feminist "new right" voices, holds the annual Natal Conference; its organizer said the administration's interest in demographic decline means its ideas "can get a hearing." Elon Musk amplified the conference's message to his millions of followers on X. Malcolm and Simone Collins, the movement's best-known spokespeople, sent draft executive orders to the Trump administration, and Vance worked briefly for Peter Thiel, who bankrolled his rise. The Collinses' proposals included a "National Medal of Motherhood" for women with six or more children; the White House was reported to be weighing a $5,000 baby bonus, menstrual-cycle classes for women, and reserving 30 percent of Fulbright scholarships for parents or married applicants. Tech investors including Sam Altman, Brian Armstrong, Peter Thiel and Vitalik Buterin have backed embryo-screening services aimed at having the "best" babies, which critics link to eugenic ideas. Online influencers Equimundo's 2023 "State of American Men" report found 52% of men aged 18 to 23 use YouTube, nearly half of young men trust at least one manosphere influencer, and 20% of men 18 to 23 trust Andrew Tate. Joe Rogan hosted Donald Trump in October 2024, reportedly declined to arrange a Kamala Harris appearance, and went on to endorse Trump. A 2026 peer-reviewed study found Tate's YouTube channels were removed in 2022 yet his content persisted, spread by thousands of other creators, so that moderation did not contain it. Australian researchers report many young men did not seek manosphere content; it found them while they searched for fitness, financial or dating advice, and a gaming-to-politics pathway also appeared. Where policy is following The White House and Treasury launched Trump Accounts in January 2026, seeding $1,000 for each baby born in the next few years; supporters framed them as a cheaper alternative to the $5,000 baby bonus Vance had proposed. The $5,000 baby bonus, menstrual-cycle classes and motherhood medal were floated in 2025; Trump said the baby bonus "sounds like a good idea," and the White House pointed to its broader family agenda rather than committing to them. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a memo promising more funding to places with higher birth rates. The Pentagon has moved on Project 2025's military goals under Hegseth, from ending DEI offices to reversing transgender service. The Dispatch describes the results for family-policy advocates as mixed so far. Perspectives Expert view — Survey researchers (as reported by Calfkicker) A survey of American young men found they admire online influencers very little, with Andrew Tate the least admired figure on the list, and their stated views on manhood diverged from manosphere ideology. The authors still say extreme content may be feeding resentment among a minority of young men, and about three in ten said they looked up to Tate at least a good amount. Research notes Open leads: Heritage's underlying donors are hidden behind donor-advised funds, so the named funders are only the visible layer; get the six-family list from DeSmog's reporting and check it against current 990s; map the specific officials who have appeared at NatalCon or on manosphere shows; check which proposals floated in 2025 (baby bonus, motherhood medal) were ever adopted; find evidence for or against the author's thesis linking this agenda to misogynist harm. Counter-evidence is included on purpose: one survey found young men admire online influencers little. Note The money, audiences and personnel overlap, but none of the sources show a coordinated plan, and the people involved would deny one. Sources [1] Philanthropy.org: who funds the Heritage Foundation (IRS 990 data) (https://philanthropy.org/990/who-funds/237327730/heritage-foundation) [2] DeSmog: 6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025 (https://www.desmog.com/2024/08/14/project-2025-billionaire-donor-heritage-foundation-donald-trump-jd-vance-charles-koch-peter-coors/) · 2024-08-14 [3] SourceWatch: Heritage Foundation (https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heritage_Foundation) [4] Heritage Foundation: record fundraising year (2023) (https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-foundation-raises-more-150-million-record-breaking-fundraising-year) [5] Mother Jones: Why Elon Musk and JD Vance Are Obsessed With You Having More Babies (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/this-is-a-war-and-natalism-is-our-sword-and-shield-my-weekend-with-the-pronatalists/) · 2025-03 [6] Mother Jones: Trump May Soon Offer a Motherhood Medal (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/trump-motherhood-medal-pronatalist-nazi/) · 2025-04 [7] NPR: They say they want Americans to have more babies (https://npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference) · 2025-04-25 [8] CNN: Tech bros and tradwives at the Natal Conference (https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/10/us/pronatalism-elon-musk-birth-rates-cec/index.html) · 2025-04-10 [9] The Hastings Center: The Dark Side of the Pronatalist Movement (https://www.thehastingscenter.org/more-and-better-babies-the-dark-side-of-the-pronatalist-movement/) [10] 19th News: How algorithms, alpha males and tradwives are winning the war for kids' minds (https://19thnews.org/2025/06/internet-culture-algorithms-alpha-males-tradwives/) · 2025-06 [11] Rieder, August & Latil: The Tate-space on YouTube (New Media & Society) (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448251409209) · 2026-01-12 [12] ABC News (Australia): The manosphere continues to suck young men in (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-20/geek-culture-revealed-as-pipeline-to-manosphere/107050590) · 2026-08-20 [13] Calfkicker: New study examines manosphere and Joe Rogan's influence on youth (https://calfkicker.com/new-study-examines-manosphere-and-joe-rogans-influence-on-youth/) [14] Fortune: The Trump administration wants women to have more babies (https://fortune.com/2025/04/23/the-trump-administration-wants-women-to-have-more-babies) · 2025-04-23 [15] NBC News: Critics question Trump baby bonus proposal (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/critics-question-trump-baby-bonus-proposal-s-just-completely-bananas-rcna203007) · 2025-05 [16] The Dispatch: Trump Accounts, Not Baby Bonuses (https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-accounts-not-baby-bonuses/) · 2026-02 [17] Independent Women's Forum: Trump Accounts Give Every Baby a Starter Fund (https://www.independentwomen.com/2026/01/29/trump-accounts-starter-fund/) · 2026-01-29 [18] 19th News: How much of Project 2025 has actually been accomplished (https://19thnews.org/2025/12/project-2025-heritage-foundation-progress/) · 2025-12 Connections Same context — Elon Musk: 2024 political spending, DOGE role and ties to the Trump administration That entry reports Musk amplified the Natal Conference's pronatalist message to his followers on X. Same actor — Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and its implementation Same think tank and donor network behind Project 2025. Same actor — Heritage Foundation's "Saving America by Saving the Family" report Heritage is the central institutional funder and policy author in both items. Same context — Synthesis: manosphere ideas becoming government policy Traces the money, online voices and policy channels behind the worldview the synthesis describes.