The collective freak out you heard at 6:58 a.m. ET Tuesday morning was the cadre of Clinton followers reacting to an email from “Hillary Rodham Clinton” with the subject line “Announcement.”
After a few short heart palpitations (and reading the email), it became clear that the announcement was not the one many political watchers have been expecting for months: That the former secretary of state was running for president in 2016.
Instead, the email urged supporters to donate to the foundation with the promise that “Bill, Chelsea, and I will triple every $1 donated to the Clinton Foundation before the end of the year, up to an additional $100,000.”
“In my family, we’re celebrating our first holidays with a beautiful new granddaughter,” Clinton wrote in the email. “We’re also celebrating the generosity and commitment of our incredible Clinton Foundation family — and that means you.”
Clinton highlighted a number of her foundation’s initiatives, including Too Small To Fail, a project dedicated to childhood education; No Ceilings, aimed at women and girls achieving full participation around the world; and Job One, an initiative aimed at connecting the unemployed with prospective employers.
Hillary Clinton joined her husband’s foundation a few months after leaving the state department in early 2013. With the addition of Clinton — as well as her daughter Chelsea — the foundation changed its named from the William J. Clinton Foundation to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
The addition proved positive. According to foundation tax documents released earlier this year, the foundation brought in $144.4 million in 2013, a three-fold growth from the $51.5 million the foundation received in 2012. The jump was seen as the foundation moving to up its endowment and put itself on better footing in case Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016.
Since joining the effort, Hillary Clinton has also used the foundation as a vehicle to travel the country and deliver high profile speeches.