WALTER H. McCLENON FUND, Inc.

The Walter H. McClenon Fund is the present legal form of a fund which was created in 1924 by Walter H. McClenon (1887-1972) for "improvement of the social and industrial condition of the peoples" of the United States and the world, and especially of those people who were at any sort of disadvantage.

The fund has had two periods of existence, as an unincorporated fund under control of its custodians from 1924 to 1976, and as a District of Columbia non-profit corporation since 1976. In 1924 Walter McClenon was unhappy with the presidential general election. He saw little real choice between Calvin Coolidge (Republican) and John Davis (Democrat). He supported the Progressive Party candidacy of Robert LaFollette. After the election, when LaFollette received only 17% of the popular vote (as contrasted with 54% for Coolidge), Walter McClenon thought that inadequate financing of LaFollette's campaign had been one of the reasons for its disappointing third-place finish.

He decided that there was a need for institutions which would finance long-term social change and reform. In December 1924 he set aside $100 as a special fund to finance projects for social, economic, and industrial reform. He wrote a set of rules concerning the conservation of the fund, and the types of projects that could and could not be financed by the fund. Control of the fund was passed from Walter McClenon to Paul McClenon in 1940, and from Paul McClenon to Robert McClenon in 1970. In 1976 Robert McClenon (and Paul McClenon and Katherine B. McClenon) incorporated the fund in the District of Columbia, both to provide it with a legally secure existence and form of governance, and to enable its exemption from federal income tax. The two dates of its founding and its incorporation, 1924 and 1976, are shown on the Walter H. McClenon Fund's corporate seal.

Since 1999 the Walter H. McClenon Fund has had two endowments, the General Endowment and the Special Endowment. Contributions to the Special Endowment are deductible from income as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Contributions to the General Endowment are not tax-deductible, so that the General Endowment can support lobbying for social change. (Federal law does not permit tax deductions for contributions to organizations which engage in lobbying, and organizations which qualify for tax-deductible status for contributions may not engage in lobbying.)

The Fund has grown as a result of generous contributions by various members of the family, especially Paul McClenon and Kathy Clark. At the end of 2010, the net worth of the General Endowment was approximately $43,000 and the net worth of the Special Endowment was approximately $83,000.