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Following his inauguration, Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s inaugural committee donated most of the leftover money it had collected to a nonprofit organization, which has been buying up Facebook ads to promote his initiatives. 

Last month, West Virginia Prosperity Group ran a series of advertisements telling people to call Morrisey and thank him for his energy and state budget policies. 

State law requires leftover money from inaugural committees to be donated either to a charity or a special fund for the governor’s mansion. However, charity is loosely defined and includes “social welfare organizations” that engage in political acts. 

Records from Facebook show the recent ad buys amounted to between $4,300 and $5,700. In total, the organization has spent more than $20,000 on Facebook ads, mostly in the run-up to Morrisey’s inauguration. 

West Virginia Prosperity Group was initially set up to help Morrisey transition from attorney general to the state’s chief executive. In May, the inaugural committee donated $500,000 in leftover funds to the organization. 

Another group, the 1925 Fund, received $125,000. Both groups have ties to Scott Will, Morrisey’s first campaign manager when he ran for attorney general in 2012 and a political consultant for Republican attorneys general nationwide. 

Longtime Republican operative Rob Corneilus joined the board of the West Virginia Prosperity Group over the summer. He said while the organization works toward many of the shared goals with other conservative organizations, simply thanking the governor is different than campaigning for him. 

“It’s one thing to say, vote for or against,” he said. “One’s a call to action, one isn’t.” 

However, social welfare organizations like West Virginia Prosperity Group also provide support like polling, Cornelius noted. And unlike political campaigns, the donors to these organizations are not required to be publicly disclosed.