Contributions to Clinton Foundation jump threefold

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation brought in $144.4 million in 2013, a three-fold growth from the $51.5 million the foundation received in 2012, according to tax documents released on Wednesday.

Though the group said in a statement the boost came from a consolidation with other charities under the foundation, the jump could also be seen as the foundation moving to up its endowment and put itself on better footing in case Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016.

“In 2013 the Foundation reconsolidated the Clinton Global Initiative into its operations,” Andrew Kessel, the foundation’s chief financial officer, wrote in a letter attached to the tax forms. “As such, the 990 tax document shows a corresponding increase in both revenue and expenses.”

According to the filing, nine donors collectively gave over $60 million. One donor gave $15 million, while three more gave around $10 million.

The foundation does disclose a range of their donors online – though they are not legally obligated to – but the names of these donors are blacked out on the tax filing.

“In 2013, the Foundation expanded our work, reinforced our financial footing, and became better positioned to maximize our impact for years to come,” Kessel said. “Our tax statements reflect these improvements.”

While revenue went up, so did expenses.

Nearly 10% – or $8.1 million – of the foundation’s $84.6 million in expenses was spent on travel. The only categories with higher expenses were salaries and wages and “conferences, conventions and meetings.”

And now at least one conservative group, America Rising PAC, is calling on Clinton to detail the foundation’s expenses to reveal whether the Clintons’ politically-related travel during the 2014 midterms was funded by the nonprofit organization.

“We are calling on the Foundation to release details of how their travel and fundraising budget was spent so voters know the extent to which the Clinton’s use the charity to subsidize their lavish travel, courtship of potential 2016 donors, and political schedule,” the PAC’s executive director Tim Miller said in an email.

Early in 2013, just shortly after Hillary Clinton left her post as America’s top diplomat, the foundation that was once simply known as the William J. Clinton Foundation was renamed to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Hillary Clinton has been very visible at the foundation’s events. She led a number of sessions at the group’s annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York this year and just last week led a session at a foundation event in Little Rock. Since leaving the State Department, Clinton has stepped up her role in fundraising for the foundation, too.

When Clinton served as secretary of state, the foundation pledged to disclose their donors and stopped holding events overseas in order to avoid conflict of interest claims between her role and the foundations.

With Clinton eying another run at the presidency, a spokesman for the foundation said earlier this year that should Clinton run for president, the “precedent” of what the foundation did while she served as secretary of state would serve as a guide to how they would handle her run