WASHINGTON – The Obama Foundation raised between $1.3 million and $3.1 million in July, August and September, the foundation reported on Friday, from a donor base that is being deliberately kept small until President Barack Obama is out of office.
The foundation does voluntarily disclose the names of donors each year plus the exact amount they have contributed in reports filed with the IRS and made public each May.
However the foundation, chaired by Obama friend Marty Nesbitt and run by executive director Robbin Cohen, disclose each quarter the names of donors. Unfortunately the foundation policy for these quarterly reports is to only list a very broad range of giving.
The Obama Foundation, created on Jan. 31, 2014, has to date only 34 couples or foundations who are supporting the organization tasked with building the Obama Center in Jackson Park in Chicago. The main components of the complex will be a library and museum.
Last Friday night in Chicago, Obama held two meetings with Obama Center supporters; the White House did not release details about those sessions.
New donors this quarter revealed by the foundation on Friday include Fay Hartog-Levin and her husband, Dan Levin, who were major fundraisers for Obama’s presidential bid. They contributed some amount between $200 and $100,000.
In his first year in office, Obama named Fay Hartog-Levin to be the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, a post she held for two years. Levin is a major real estate developer. Before becoming a senior White House advisor Valerie Jarrett was a top executive at his firm.
Reid Hoffman, the CEO of LinkedIn and Michelle Yee donated between $500,001 and $1 million. The couplewere guests at the China State Dinner last September.
The Hauptman Family Foundation, contributed between $250,001 to $500,000; the director is Andrew Hauptman the co-founder of Andell Holdings who owns the Chicago Fire Soccer Club.
The John and Marcia Goldman Foundation gave between $100,001 and $250,000. Goldman is the Chief Executive Officer, Goldman Insurance. The couple was invited to the White House Nordic State Dinner in May.
The Robin and Possum Foundation, a charitable fund managed by the US Charitable Trust, also donated between $200 and $100,000.
In 2014, Tom Campion, owner of the Zumiez clothing chain and his wife, Sonya, gave the foundation $500,000. The Seattle couple bumped up their giving in the last quarter and are now listed as contributing between $500,001 and $1 million.
The top professional fundraiser for the foundation is Jordan Kaplan, who has been raising money for Obama since his time as a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
The foundation raised $1,916,247 in 2015, compared to $5,434,877 in 2014, according to the 2015 IRS report the nonprofit, tax-exempt foundation released in May.
