Clinton Foundation Donations Plunge, Reaching 16-Year Low

NEW YORK CITY- SEPTEMBER 22: Former US President Bill Clinton (R) stands on stage with his
Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

The Clinton Foundation’s revenue has dropped to a 16-year low, spending more than it took in last year, according to its 2018 tax return which reported just $30.7 million in revenue.

The Clinton Foundation’s revenue has nosedived following Hillary Clinton’s loss to then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016. According to its recently released public report, the organization took in just $30.7 million in 2018 – over seven million less than the $38.4 million it reported in 2017 and roughly $218 million less than the $249 million the charity raised in 2009, when Clinton served as the secretary of state in the Obama administration.

The charity spent millions more than it took in last year, spending $47.5 million on “payroll, grants and promotion, among other items,” according to Open Secrets.

“It also scaled back spending on domestic grants and foreign activities compared to the prior year, but spent more in 2018 on advertising, promotions and fundraising efforts,” Open Secrets added.

Overall, the charity’s 2018 revenue is “less than half the $62.9 million it raised in 2016 as Clinton was at the height of her presidential campaign,” according to Open Secrets:

Each of the two years since Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election has seen the organization’s revenue drop to record lows, raising less than any fiscal year in more than a decade — a sharp contrast to the $249 million raised during Clinton’s first year as secretary of state. The foundation received less money from fundraising events and its service programs last year compared to previous years but kept investing tens of millions in the programs.

Accompanying the charity’s massive revenue loss is a significant reduction in speaking fees, going from $3.6 million in 2014 to $369,899 in 2018. However, that is $71,923 more than the $297,976 it reported from paid speeches the year prior.

Clinton has been on defense for her foundation, blasting out an email in January in an attempt to vaguely defend the “false accusations” and “baseless assaults” against the charity.

The email read in part:

I am so proud of the impact the Clinton Foundation has made. When I ran for president, this top-rated global charity was dragged into a political mud fight. In the two years since, people with an axe to grind have continued to try to undermine its work by attacking them and making false accusations. But the Foundation has continued to help people across America and around the world, undeterred by these baseless assaults.

I’m inspired by this steadfast dedication to improve lives. There are real issues in society needing attention that the people of the Clinton Foundation work hard to solve every day. Despite the attacks, they are staying focused on what really matters.

“Join with me in resisting the vitriol. Sign up today and get involved in work that matters,” Clinton added.

As Breitbart News reported, the Clinton Foundation has faced controversy “over its acceptance of multi-million dollar contributions from foreign governments while Clinton was Secretary of State, including donations from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar”:

One point of contention revolved around $2.35 million donated to the Clinton Foundation by the family foundation of the chairman of Uranium One, the firm in which the Russian state-owned Rosatom company took a majority stake in a deal approved by Clinton’s State Department.

Open Secrets noted that over one-third of the organization’s 2018 donations, $11.9 million, came from just nine donors.

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