Clinton foundation spends $226 million on programs in ’12

Former President Bill Clinton’s foundation spent $226 million in 2012 on programs with such aims as providing medicine to AIDS patients in Africa and curbing childhood obesity in the U.S., according to financial information released by the organization.

The foundation released tax documents for 2012 to The Associated Press that show the organization finished the most recent year with a $7 million surplus across its various entities.

Comparatively little of the organization’s money goes toward drawing in more cash. The foundation devoted $7.8 million to fundraising, or 3.5 percent of its budget. Nearly 90 percent of foundation money went into its programs, while 6.5 percent went toward management and general expenses.

In 2013, the organization altered its scope and changed its name to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation from the William J. Clinton Foundation, which it could do because Hillary Rodham Clinton was no longer serving as secretary of state.

Now that she is part of the foundation, it is adding emphasis to programs geared toward helping women and girls. Hillary Clinton has said she’ll decide in 2014 whether to run for president in 2016.

The documents don’t include updated donor lists. In past years, the foundation has in January released names of donors and what they gave after the Dec. 31 close of the foundation’s fiscal year. As with many nonprofits, the foundation has been making a holiday push for donations.

The foundation is based in New York but also has a presence in Little Rock, the site of Clinton’s presidential library.

The documents and annual reports show the foundation’s Clinton Health Access Initiative commanded the most money in 2012, spending $136.4 million.

The initiative works with governments to make affordable drugs and diagnostics available for treatment of HIV and AIDS and to generally improve health-care infrastructure. The program also provides vaccines and treatments of diseases including malaria, tuberculosis and diarrhea, which the foundation says kill 700,000 children annually.

The foundation spent $18.4 million on the Clinton Global Initiative, which works to involve public and private organizations with individuals to create better health, opportunities for women and new entrepreneurship.

In the U.S., Bill Clinton has worked to combat childhood obesity through the Clinton Health Matters Initiative. The foundation has pushed for lower-calorie drinks in schools and worked to provide information to families about more-nutritious eating and increasing physical activity.

At a foundation event last week at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Clinton noted childhood obesity rates in the U.S. have leveled off, and he said he hopes to see the numbers move downward.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/26/2013

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