Over the next 28 years, Mr. Roche raised about $325 million, much of it from conservative donors, and built a pretty good college.

Mr. Artiano and Mr. Fischer each received about $300,000 last year for arranging meetings between the President and wealthy conservative donors, the officials said.

"It does ring a sympathetic chord with conservative donors," said Morton C. Blackwell, president of the institute and a veteran of the conservative movement.

This effort was receiving financial support from foundations associated with the family of Richard Mellon Scaife and other conservative donors.

Republican congressmen have used the issue in fund-raising appeals to gingerly chosen conservative donors.

The conservative donors to these trusts are said to represent a wide range of opinion on the American right who have found common ground in opposing cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Pataki appeared at the Monday Meeting, an exclusive gathering of some of the city's most conservative political donors, activists, journalists and opinionmakers.

Triad raised money from conservative donors and sent it to the nonprofit groups that bought so-called issue advertisements on television attacking Democrats and supporting Republican candidates and causes.

The organization assures its conservative donors that their donated funds will never be used to support liberal causes.

Tapping into a network of conservative donors across the country, Triad funneled their money through nonprofit groups and political action committees to support conservative candidates in important races.