How might such mailings be connected to the new Amberwave Impact Fund 501(c)(4)?
OCT 31, 2025
If you received such curious political mailings for the local election next week, please take pictures and email to me for research: WatchDogLab@gmail.com
On Wednesday The Sentinel published an article about Amberwave’s involvement in the local Prairie Village city council election.
Another source indicates wider involvement: “Amberwave is very, very active in local elections this cycle, everywhere.”
Amberwave’s Statement of Organization was amended on Oct. 6 to show a new chair and treasurer, Robyn McCraken, and a new connection to an affiliated organization, the Amberwave Impact Fund.
Amberwave’s Statement of Organization from 2024 showed Danielle Robinson as the Chair and Treasurer, who is the wife of Prairie Village City Councilman Cole Robinson.
Both Danielle and Cole Robinson were active in the Sharice Davids’ campaign in 2018. The Johnson Country Post reported the Robinsons introduced Davids before her victory speech in 2018. Legistorm reported Danielle Robinson served as Davids’ Communications Director and later as the District Director.
In April 2025 Danielle Robinson as PAC Treasurer declined comment from email requests, and later a public request in a WatchDog Lab article, about Questions about Amberwave campaign finance reports from 2024. In particular, there was no additional information available for a $119,604 payment to Databasically for “consultant mail and printing services,” which likely impacted County Commission races in Johnson County.
What is the Amberwave Impact Fund?
The amended Amberwave Statement of Organization revealed the existence of the Amberwave Impact Fund.
Business records
Kansas business records show Amberwave Impact Fund incorporated on April 21, 2025 by four Johnson County Democrats.
The Impact Fund’s board consists of Mike Talboy, (D-Shawnee), Wade Kiefer (D-Olathe) [name misspelled in filing], Emily Hage (D-Roeland Park), and Mike Kelly (D-Prairie Village, and Chair of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners).
Kelly was elected Roeland Park mayor in 2017, and JoCo Board Chair in 2022. Kelly moved to Prairie Village after becoming the JoCo Board Chair.
IRS Records
The party affiliations were mentioned above because this organization was approved on Sept. 19, 2025 by the IRS to be a “nonpartisan” 501(c)(4) nonprofit effective April 21, which was the date of incorporation.
As a non-profit, Amberwave Impact Fund can legally never disclose donors, and delay reporting of its IRS 990 tax filing to a year or more after any election year.
The 501(c)(4) nonprofit Kansas Values Institute has refined the process of hiding disclosures of donors, acting almost like a PAC during elections, and only filing scant details in IRS 990s a year or more after an election. KVI has yet to file its 2024 IRS 990 but is known to have received $600,000 from Gov. Laura Kelly’s Middle of the Road PAC last year.
PAC money is disclosed before an election. Nonprofit money is not.
Related
“Nonpartisan” Johnson County contests are very partisanEARL F GLYNN·OCTOBER 29, 2024Read full story