Beau Biden Foundation to deny lobbyist donations, make major donors public

The Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children, which works to combat child abuse and was named after President Biden’s late son, told donors Thursday it will make changes to increase transparency.

The foundation said in an email obtained by The Hill that it will expand its ethical guidelines following Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday by not accepting donations from lobbyists and foreign agents and by making major donors public.

“We are implementing new protocols to provide greater transparency around fundraising and establish strict guidelines around who can make a gift to support our work,” the email reads.

It also said it will only accept gifts from U.S. citizens, lawfully admitted permanent residents, and American corporate entities and associations. 

“Federally registered lobbyists, registered foreign agents and federal contractors will not be permitted to make gifts to the Foundation,” the letter reads.

It did not specify if the foundation took donations from such groups prior to this rule, but donation forms will now require donors to confirm their eligibility. 

The foundation will share the names and home states of all donors whose gifts exceed $2,500 per year, and it will share the list on its website and update it monthly. For anonymous donors, it will “make every accommodation to accept anonymous gifts while still holding ourselves accountable to the ethics guidelines of the Biden-Harris Administration.” 

The foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

The attempts by the Beau Biden Foundation to create transparency follows the scandals around the Clinton Foundation, which has accepted contributions from foreign donors like the Saudi government. It made its donors public in 2008 when Hillary Clinton was named former President Obama’s secretary of State. 

The Beau Biden Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was established in June 2015 following Beau Biden’s death in May of that year. The president’s surviving son, Hunter Biden, is on the board of the foundation as well as Hallie Biden, Beau Biden’s wife.

The foundation stressed in the email that the coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on children’s safety and the importance of its work at this time.

It works to combat child abuse by educating adults and children on the issue, by training the next generation of child welfare professionals, and by working to strengthen national child protection laws.