DraftKings donated $50,000 in June to a nonprofit political advocacy group launched by Gov. Maura Healey to promote her housing policies, according to a report from the Boston-based sports betting giant to gaming regulators.
The disclosure of the donation offers a rare glimpse into what’s essentially a black-box political fund. The organization, called One Commonwealth, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that has rallied people around a controversial zoning law and has paid for advertisements plugging Healey’s housing policy victories. It is not required to report its backers publicly.
Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll created the nonprofit last year as they pressed local cities and towns to come into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, a law that requires some municipalities in Greater Boston to allow zoning for multi-family housing near T stops.
In its report to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission this fall, DraftKings cast Healey’s nonprofit as seeking to “increase the availability of homes in Massachusetts by creating more housing options.”
But the donation from DraftKings comes as sports betting in Massachusetts faces a new wave of scrutiny, with young adults across the state finding themselves hooked on online gambling and lawmakers on Beacon Hill grappling with their decision to legalize the practice more than three years ago.
Few industries are as heavily regulated as sports betting, and DraftKings is routinely scrutinized by the gaming commission and the attorney general’s office.
Political observers said the type of nonprofit Healey and Driscoll created is increasingly common in politics because it can be directly involved in lobbying, advocacy and candidate support.
The nonprofits are allowed to engage in grassroots lobbying and advocacy on specific issues like housing. Because they can influence politics, donations are not tax-deductible like they are to other types of nonprofits.
It’s unclear why DraftKings contributed to One Commonwealth, and whether it was asked to do so. A spokesperson for the company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Asked whether she actively solicits donations for One Commonwealth after an unrelated State House event Thursday afternoon, Healey referred questions to a spokesperson for the nonprofit.
During a Sept. 9 Massachusetts Gaming Commission hearing, Jared Hess, director of public affairs for DraftKings, presented the One Commonwealth donation among a list of charitable gifts to show its “community outreach.”
He described “programs to support first-time homebuyers and those struggling to keep up with housing costs, including teachers, nurses, first responders. So really proud to support One Commonwealth this year.”
Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University, said these nonprofits provide elected officials with a tool to influence politics without having to name donors.
“We’ve seen a proliferation in these so-called dark money groups that don’t need to disclose their donors, and there are several attractive features related to them, including the fact that there are fewer restrictions on what they can and cannot do, provided their political activities are not their primary effort,” he said in an interview.
Groups like One Commonwealth are considered “social welfare” organizations by the Internal Revenue Service and are supposed to benefit the “common good.”
The federal government generally restricts these types of organizations from spending more than half their money on campaigns and elections, though at what point regulators might take action on a violation is a subject of debate among lawyers and campaign finance experts.
One Commonwealth’s spending on local elections is regulated by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Jessica Silva-Hodges, a spokesperson for One Commonwealth, would not disclose the organization’s donors when asked by WBUR. She described supporters as “a diverse coalition of business leaders and community advocates who share our commitment to keeping Massachusetts residents in Massachusetts.”
She added in a statement, “While following all of the clear guidelines for organizations like ours, we are doing everything we can to ensure Massachusetts continues to address this housing affordability crisis.”
Other nonprofit leaders pushed back against criticism leveled at 501(c)(4) nonprofits.
Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing, a separate housing-focused 501(c)(4), said the “dark money” critique should be aimed at groups involved in national politics.
“The vast majority of 501(c)(4)s are not bad,” he said in an interview. “I think it’s a bit of confusion on many folks’ part.”
One Commonwealth’s leadership includes some longtime political operatives who have run high-profile campaigns, including for U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, according to the organization’s state paperwork.
Lynda Tocci, listed as president of One Commonwealth, previously served as a senior advisor on Healey’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign and works at a prominent Boston public policy shop, Dewey Square Group.
Jack Corrigan is listed as clerk and director, according to filings with Secretary of State William Galvin’s office. Corrigan is a well-known consultant who has worked on many local political campaigns and served on former U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s failed presidential bid.
The Healey administration’s implementation of the MBTA Communities Act has been a flashpoint in eastern Massachusetts, and a regular talking point in the 2026 race for governor.
A small group of cities and towns have voted not to comply with the law. In turn, Healey withheld grant funding from many of the non-compliant municipalities.
In one high-profile case, Attorney General Andrea Campbell took the town of Milton to court over the community’s decision to buck the statute. That legal challenge ended up before the state’s highest court, where justices ruled the law is constitutional and enforceable.
Healey and Driscoll’s nonprofit focused some of its efforts on Marblehead, which is still not in compliance with the zoning law after voters there overturned a previously approved zoning plan in July.
In one newsletter that One Commonwealth emailed out ahead of the vote to overturn the zoning plan, the group encouraged residents to “uphold” their town’s multi-family zoning push.
“Encourage your Marblehead friends and neighbors to get out and vote early today or on Election Day,” the newsletter said, while also directing people to a website run by a pro-MBTA Communities Act group in Marblehead.
Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing, said the governor’s nonprofit helped his group develop the most “effective” messaging to make the case for zoning reform and helped community members host meetings before local votes on zoning plans.
With 165 out of 177 towns and cities having passed multi-family zoning under the law as of Thursday, Healey and Driscoll’s nonprofit has turned to promoting other housing policies.
The organization budgeted $250,000 this fall to run three 30-second advertisements, online and on streaming platforms, that spotlight the legalization of accessory dwelling units, or in-law apartments, and the benefits of Healey’s $5 billion housing borrowing bill she signed into law last year.
One ad also focused on a policy requiring residential brokers’ fees to be covered by the party who hired the broker — typically a landlord. Healey had pushed to end the practice of making renters shell out for brokers’ fees, and the measure was approved by the Legislature this year.
Rachel Heller, chief executive of a different type of housing-focused nonprofit, Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, said her group, as well as One Commonwealth and Abundant Housing, “provide support” for more people to make the case for housing.
“Regardless of state laws,” she said, “it’s in our communities that all of these decisions are made.”
