Oil Billionaire’s Charity, Backing Obama, Sought Solyndra in Tulsa
By David Mildenberg and Peter Robison
Bloomberg News
September 26, 2011
... “This approach is very consistent with our overall philosophy that all charitable investments must be scrutinized for effectiveness before they are expanded, he said. “We’ve started a lot of things and we’re going to see what works.”
In 2009, the Kaiser foundation distributed $46.4 million in grants, or about 1.2 percent of assets, according to its latest publicly available federal tax return. If it had faced the giving requirement of a private foundation, it would have had to distribute about $150 million more that year, according to Aaron Dorfman, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy in Washington.
“We have urgent problems in the world,” Dorfman said. “If people have received a tax deduction for their gifts, those assets ought to be put to use sooner rather than later.”
Kaiser’s giving has drawn Obama’s attention. One nonprofit group, Tulsa Educare, started by organizations including Kaiser’s family charity, got $302,779 from the Tulsa Community Foundation in 2007, and shares the same address as its two benefactors. Candidate Obama visited a Tulsa Educare Center in March 2007, when he traveled to the city for a fundraiser at Kaiser’s home, according to Levit, the family foundation head.
