WASHINGTON — Fueled by two mega donors, the Obama Foundation in 2022 had its best fundraising year since its founding in 2014, according to records released Tuesday, with the compensation package of its chief executive, Valerie Jarrett, jumping to $754,064, up from $592,905 in 2021.
Since the foundation started fundraising in 2014, it has raised $1.1 billion, according to reports.
The foundation on Tuesday disclosed information about its finances and programs — and tunder construction in Jackson Park — in two documents covering 2022: its annual report and its Internal Revenue Service form 990, which tax-exempt organizations are required to file each year. A 990 report must include information about the highest-paid employees and contractors.
The Obama Foundation is now a sprawling operation, with programs in Chicago and a global network reaching, according to the annual report, 152 countries and territories.
The Obama Foundation is headquartered in Hyde Park. The post-presidential offices of former President Barack Obama and ex-first lady Michelle are in Washington.
Here’s what’s new:
Record fundraising, bolstered by Jeff Bezos and Brian Chesky
In 2022, the foundation collected $311,359,611 in contributions and grants, up from $159,660,416. The best year prior was in 2017, with a $231,993,748 haul. Foundation spokesperson Courtney Williams told the Sun-Times the total included $125 million from Brian Chesky, the Airbnb CEO and co-founder, and $100 million from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Chesky is now the single largest donor to the Obama Presidential Foundation, eclipsing Bezos, who held the prior contribution record.
The Bezos donation can be used to build the center, a complex of four buildings on 19.3 acres in Jackson Park.
The Chesky gift earmarks $100 million for the Obama-Chesky Voyager scholarship for public service.
The first class of Voyager Public Service Scholarship recipients launched in 2022. Voyager scholarships provide up to $50,000 to students starting their junior year in college plus a $10,000 stipend and free Airbnb housing for a summer work-travel project. The remaining $25 million of the Chesky contribution is unrestricted and can be used for Obama Center construction.
Hefty raises
Jarrett, who served in the Obama White House for all eight years — and is a longtime confidant of the former president and first lady became chief executive in 2021. Her reported compensation package in 2022, according to the 990 report, is $754,064, up from $592,905 in 2021.
The pay package for foundation president David Simas in 2022 was $695,712, compared to $584,888 in 2021. Simas resigned from the foundation this year.
Robbin Cohen, the Obama foundation executive vice president, earned $651,929 last year, up from $535,898 in 2021. Tina Tchen, the former first lady’s chief of staff, joined the foundation as an executive vice president in July 2022 and was paid $192,333 for a partial year. The foundation uses compensation consultants to advise on executive pay.
More financials
Operating expenses in 2022 totaled $65 million, up from $41.38 million in 2021. Fundraising is a costly item, and it spiked in 2022: the foundation spent $13.564 million for professional fundraising firms in 2022, compared with $9 million in 2021. The net assets for the foundation increased in 2022 to $925.3 million, up from $680 million in 2021.
Obama Center costs to date
The cost to date for Obama Presidential Center construction, according to the 2022 annual report: $222,237,463.
In the annual report covering 2020, the foundation said the goal was to raise $1.6 billion “over the next five years to build and open the Obama Presidential Center, sustain our programming and operations and plan for the future.” That amount was to cover $830 million in startup costs: $700 million to build the complex — a museum and three other structures, a garage and open space; $90 million for museum items and other prep for opening; and $40 million to operate the center for its first year.
There was no update on that timetable or price tag in the 2022 report.
Construction started on the complex in April 2021; the ceremonial groundbreaking was on Sept. 28, 2021. The foundation has a variety of programs to try to employ a construction workforce from “underserved” communities on the South and West sides. The annual report said $1.35 million will be earmarked to train 536 new “pre-apprentices” from those communities, part of a drive to prepare people for jobs in the trades.
Signs around the center on Stony Island Avenue say the center will open in 2025.
The Obama Center will have a Chicago Public Library branch and will not have an official federal Obama Presidential Library. For now, the official library is in a former furniture showroom in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates.
More on jumbo donors
The foundation also released a list of donors, declining to provide the exact amount of their gifts, breaking down gifts in broad ranges. Besides Bezos and the new donors of at least $1 million in 2022 they included: the Bank of America, which announced a $3 million grant to “support its workforce development and community support initiatives.”
Other jumbo donors in 2022 included Comcast NBC Universal, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Lego System.
Fundraising history
Gifts, grants and contribution totals since the foundation was created in 2014:
2022: $311,359,661
2020: $171,102,620
2019: $139,037,209
2018: $163,949,264
2017: $231,993,748
2016: $13,175,732
2014: $5,434,877
