Washington — President Obama and his wife, Michelle, contributed $25,000 last year to the United Negro College Fund, according to their tax return, which the couple released yesterday.
That was the largest amount they donated to any single nonprofit group last year, according to their tax filing. They also gave $25,000 to one other organization: CARE, which fights poverty worldwide.
Among the $172,050 in total charitable donations the first couple claimed on their return (representing about 6.5 percent of their adjusted gross income) was a gift of $1,000 to Columbia University, where President Obama earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1983.
They showed no similar love last year for Princeton University, Ms. Obama’s undergraduate alma mater, nor Harvard University, where both of the Obamas received law degrees. Among the 37 nonprofit entities to which the Obamas donated in 2008 were many Chicago-based organizations, including groups that seek to improve education and reading among young people from low-income families, and foundations that support research on epilepsy, juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and ovarian cancer.
The Obamas’ donation to Columbia struck one Washington Post blogger as perhaps a bit low, given that 2008 marked a quarter century since the president had graduated from the university.
“Hmmm … They give only $1,000 to Columbia on, what, his 25th-reunion year??” wrote Joel Achenbach. “That’s when you’re supposed to donate an entire gymnasium!” —Sara Hebel
