Moms for Liberty is offering local chapter leaders $500 to attend monthly Zoom calls with its national team, according to a message obtained by Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone.
The message, sent from a local Moms for Liberty chapter chair in Texas, was directed to local chapter leaders and asks chairs to review a spreadsheet of attendees who logged on to recent zoom calls with the national organization. It reads, in part, "to make sure that we gave your chapter credit" and includes a list of local chairs who attended the monthly calls this year.
The message adds: "Thank you for helping us give you proper credit for attendance! We want to make sure everyone gets that $500."
Pegi Mauro spent a few months as chapter chair for Moms for Liberty in Seminole County this year. She said the $500 attendance incentive is a new promotion designed to get more local leaders to attend the mandatory monthly meetings.
"I thought it was a great incentive," Mauro said.
"This is an incentive to make sure that at least somebody on the board is able to be a part of the Zoom, and then we can relay the information to the other board members," Mauro said.
Mauro believes the incentive is a good thing, particularly since local chapters are mostly responsible for their own expenses and fundraising, she said.
"It’s an incentive program. Employers have it, and you know, we're volunteers, so this makes things a little easier for us to do the things that we need to do in our community," Mauro said.
But critics are skeptical.
"To pay people to be a volunteer, to go on a Zoom meeting, I think is just ridiculous," said Jennifer Pippin, former chair of the Indian River County branch, one of the group’s first local chapters.After five years with the organization, Pippin recently left the organization over concerns the group’s mission has changed.
"I feel like we've gotten so far away from the grassroots movement," Pippin told us last month. Several other former local chapter leaders in Florida have left, with some telling us they were concerned the group is becoming too focused on donors and national politics.
Their resignations appear to be part of a broader decline in membership for the controversial parents' rights group, which rose to prominence by fighting mask mandates and promoting book bans. Though the group still touts about 300 active chapters nationwide and 130,000 members, several chapters have shut down, have no leadership, or are no longer active.
Pippin believes the new $500 promotion is an incentive to keep the group alive and donor money flowing. Pippin said it’s not unusual for donors and celebrities to serve as special guests on the monthly calls.
“To take donor money and fund chapters just to be on a zoom call, I think that money can be better spent on policy and procedures, legislation, school board members, things like that,” she said."My personal opinion is they're doing this to keep people on the Zoom call, to make it look like they have a ton of people, a ton of chapters," Pippin said.
The latest reported revenues show Moms for Liberty collected nearly $6 million in 2024, a staggering 1500% increase since the group was founded in 2021.
But Mauro pushed back on any characterization that the incentives are being used to mislead donors or buy member engagement.
"I think that's a ridiculous claim. I mean, clearly, if you've been involved with the chapters, you know the expenses that we can have in participating in all different community events," Mauro said.
Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich would not speak on camera about the new cash incentive. In a statement, Luke Ball, spokesperson for the group and a Republican consultant stated, "Moms for Liberty provides incentives to its chapters with funding from the national organization. Just another example of how national leadership supports its grassroots volunteers!"
Current and former members said this incentive is not the only financial assistance offered from the national organization.Local chapters can apply for grants to help cover some costs. However, it’s unknown how much money the organization has provided to local chapters in financial assistance or incentives.The group’s spokesperson would not share any details and referred us back to his statement.
Though Mauro recently resigned from her role as a local Moms for Liberty chair, she remains an active member and hopes these cash incentives continue.
"Yes, of course! The need is there. We want to be effective and be involved in our communities and be able to do these events and advocate for parental rights, we do need their help sometimes," Mauro said.
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