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GOP convention surplus, plus matching funds, means $5M for 82 charities

 
Published Sept. 20, 2014

The local organizers of the 2012 Republican National Convention last week began distributing $2.83 million left over from the event to more than 80 charities, most of them in the Tampa Bay area.

In addition, Tampa Bay Host Committee organizers said they have secured $2 million in matching funds, bringing the entire distribution to nearly $5 million.

Recipients include All Children's Hospital, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation, Belleair Community Foundation and Eckerd's Friends of the Children mentoring program.

The host committee did not say how much any one charity will receive, but its gifts are expected to range from $2,500 to several hundred thousand dollars, with most in the $10,000 to $100,000 range.

"A wonderful legacy," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said. "There will be a lot of people who will be helped."

The nonprofit 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee received its final audit last month from the Federal Election Commission, which provided the green light to distribute the surplus in accordance with IRS and FEC rules.

The audit was "squeaky clean," with no adverse findings, which is unusual for a presidential convention host committee, Tampa Bay Host Committee president Ken Jones said.

Also unusual, if not unprecedented, Jones said, is the sheer number of gifts being made to local charities in such a short period of time.

"The list is pretty diverse and the amount is pretty large," he said. "I think this is a major impact to the community and will be felt, hopefully, for a long while."

One of the biggest donors to the convention ($4.6 million from his own pockets and two of his companies) and one of its best fundraisers (he's credited with helping to bring in at least $7.1 million more) was St. Petersburg businessman Bill Edwards.

Edwards also is one of its leading matching donors for charity.

"I love helping my community," Edwards said in a statement released through the host committee. "That's why I made a major commitment to the 2012 RNC, and that's why I'm making another major commitment now."

In all, 27 organizations will receive matching gifts from 11 or 12 donors.

The host committee has began processing checks. Money is expected to be distributed by the end of September. Then the host committee will administratively dissolve itself with the state.

To put on the convention, the host committee raised nearly $55.3 million — $44.9 million in cash and $10.4 million in donations of goods or services. About 27 percent of the contributions came from inside the state.

About $2.83 million was left over after the convention, which took place in August 2012.

In addition to the charitable gifts, the convention generated an estimated $214 million in direct spending around the bay area, according to an economic impact study commissioned by the host committee and released last year. As that money was spent and respent locally, the total direct and indirect impact of the convention on the bay area added up to $404 million.

The benefits, however, were not spread evenly. Businesses in or near the heavy security zone surrounding the convention were hit hard. More generally, restaurants and bars throughout the bay area saw so many regular customers stay home that their sales either lagged behind the rest of the state or actually dropped.

Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times