Barack Obama may change Washington when he takes over the White House next month, but when it comes to paying for his inauguration, the president-elect is mostly doing it the old-fashioned way — putting the arm on wealthy supporters and promising VIP treatment on the big day in return.
George W. Bush did it that way. So did most of the presidents who preceded him.
Obama’s aides plan to spend more than $40 million on the celebration — about the same as Bush — and they expect to have little trouble raising the money. Even though Obama has imposed a $50,000 maximum on individual contributions and banned donations from corporations, unions and political action committees, the money is flowing in.
That has sharply reduced the usual role played by K Street lobbying firms in underwriting inauguration events, but it doesn’t seem to have put much of a crimp in the Obama fundraising.
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In fact, some unexpected bumpy moments have arisen largely because so many supporters are eager to contribute and get the special tickets, social invitations and other perks that come with making large donations.
With less than a month to go, planners are hurrying to add elements to the master calendar. They’ve told some supporters they might not get all the goodies they’d expect in exchange for big-bucks donations.
And they’ve scrambled to think up new ways to deal with the huge demand and keep important supporters happy.
“It’s a market frenzy out there,” said one fundraiser, who is bundling money from several wealthy families and helping coordinate their travel to the inauguration.
“There is frustration because individuals in some cases still do not know what they are getting for their donations.”
The fundraiser, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the problems were “similar to the way it has been in inaugurations of the past — only more so. There is more demand than ever for access to special events, but the capacity is the same.”
Campaign finance reform advocates acknowledge that Obama has taken steps to limit contributions from interest groups, but they said the inaugural fundraising, like other Obama efforts, is more similar than different from those that have come before. Most of his campaign money came from donors giving $1,000 or more, and individuals have to be affluent to afford even the minimum tier of exclusive events.
“Obama continues to depend on large donors,” says Steve Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute, a reform advocacy organization.
So far, according to the inaugural committee Web site, $21.9 million has been raised.
And despite the strict limits, some donors are finding ways to make big contributions.
The family of liberal philanthropist George Soros, for example, is providing $250,000 to the Obama inaugural fund — with five individuals each giving the maximum. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, gave a total of $100,000.
Other well-known families and celebrities are among the donors who are bundling contributions solicited from others. For example, former ambassador Elizabeth Bagley and her husband, Smith Bagley, are listed as having bundled checks totaling $450,000.
The $50,000 donor list also includes well-known Hollywood personalities such as Halle Berry, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson.
A few million people will squeeze around the Capitol and onto the National Mall for the Jan. 20 swearing-in. Most will contend with frigid weather, traffic jams, packed subway cars and long walks from distant staging areas — all for a fleeting glimpse of the new president.
Those making big-dollar donations, however, will be rewarded with exclusive tickets, up-front seating and invitations to fancy events — including a candlelight black-tie dinner with Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and hundreds of their most generous supporters.
Any supporters raising $300,000 or more will earn the title “trustee” and get four tickets to every special inaugural event on the schedule, along with seats to the swearing-in and parade, according to an inaugural committee document titled “Finance Event Schedule” that lays out a series of events beginning on the Saturday before the inauguration.
Partly because of the demand, there have been some headaches for an Obama team that has historically run its fundraising operations with widely envied precision.
To begin with, planners may have thought too small when putting together events like the candlelight dinners. They had no trouble finding buyers for the high-priced tickets, but as seats filled up, some fundraisers have been told there might not be room for everyone who expected special treatment — not just inaugural donors but major campaign fundraisers and allies.
The demand for special treatment has been so great that the inauguration committee faced the possibility of well-heeled supporters being turned away from some of the most sought-after events — a fundraiser’s nightmare. Many donors still don’t know whether they will get tickets to coveted inaugural balls such as the one hosted by Obama’s home state of Illinois.
Inauguration organizers have responded by creating a new package for $10,000-givers: Each gets the title of “sponsor” and a more limited set of tickets and party invitations than more open-handed supporters.
“Sponsors” also get two tickets each to a late-night party on the Saturday before the inauguration as well as two tickets to a candlelight dinner.
Donors giving the $50,000 maximum are called “finance chairs” and get full access to everything but receive fewer tickets to each event than the “trustees” who line up $300,000 in donations.
Many details remain sketchy. The itinerary being sent to donors carries the disclaimer “schedule in formation,” the times of most events are labeled “TBD,” and the headline attraction to each event is described as “special guest.”
The inauguration budget four years ago was roughly the same as Obama’s, but Bush’s organizers took contributions of up to $250,000 and accepted money and in-kind support from corporations and PACs.
Donations poured in with relative ease from companies with issues pending in Washington — such as ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and Marriott Corp. — as industries took advantage of one of the last remaining opportunities to give directly to a presidential cause.
Obama aides have pointed to his inauguration contribution limits as evidence that he has not given up on the spirit of his campaign, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars due largely to smaller donations over the Internet.
“We have the broadest inaugural fundraising restrictions in history,” said Linda Douglass, the chief spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. She added that for the first time, donations are searchable online and are posted shortly after they are received.
Donations from the stars
$50,000 The maximum individual donation allowed
Robert Zemeckis
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Steve Ballmer
Halle Berry
Kate Capshaw
Jamie Foxx
Tom Hanks
Samuel Jackson
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Steven Spielberg
Sharon Stone
$25,000
Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson
Larry Page
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