On January 23, 2012, Mitt Romney released his tax information for 2010-2011, showing himself to be one of the richest men ever to run for president of the United States.   Fifteen percent of his income went to charitable donations, mostly to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often erroneously called the “Mormon Church.”  The LDS Church is known for its financial soundness, the result of wise financial practices, impeccable ethics, and no debt.  The Church of Jesus Christ even pays for its temples in cash.

Mitt Romney’s Tithing

Mitt Romney is a member in good standing in the LDS Church.  He is worthy to enter a holy Mormon temple to make higher covenants there.  That means he is a “full tithe payer.”  The paying of tithing (meaning ten percent of one’s increase) is an ancient biblical practice, as sacrifice is a foundational principle of the gospel.  In Old Testament times, people offered animal sacrifices, but they also paid tithing, often in kind (from their flocks and fields, rather than with money).

And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps (2 Chronicles 31:6).

Thus, ten percent of Mitt Romney’s income would have gone to the Church of Jesus Christ as tithes.  Tithing is paid confidentially in the LDS Church; there are no collection plates passed around at church meetings.  There are no plaques on the walls of meetinghouses or temples showing who made donations to build the edifices.

Although one must be a full tithe-payer to enter a holy Mormon temple, this is determined by the member making a statement to the bishop (leader of the congregation).  The bishop accepts this statement as truth.  Tithing is paid voluntarily.   No one is forced to pay.  Mitt Romney pays the same amount of tithing as the poorest member of the Church of Jesus Christ — ten percent.

But Mitt Romney has given more than ten percent of his income to the Church of Jesus Christ.  Why is that?  First, there are other voluntary offerings besides tithing.

Mitt Romney’s other Donations

The first Sunday of every month, Mormons fast for two meals and donate the money they would have spent on food to the poor and needy.  These funds first go to help those in the local congregation.  The excess goes to the Church.  The Church of Jesus Christ has a remarkable welfare system designed to increase the self-reliance of those who use it.  Using “fast offerings” and the volunteer labor of the Latter-day Saints, the Church produces foodstuffs and distributes them through “Bishop’s Storehouses.”  Employment counseling and other helps are also provided by the Church.

Other specific funds exist in the Church to which one may donate:

• The Ward Missionary Fund helps support missionaries from one’s home congregation.
• The General Missionary Fund helps support missionaries from all over the Church.  (Missionaries pay their own way when they serve, but some are unable.)
• The Book of Mormon fund purchases Books of Mormon for missionaries to distribute.
• The Temple Construction Fund aids in building temples.
• The Perpetual Education Fund helps to educate youth from poorer countries who have served missions for the Church.
• The Humanitarian Aid Fund finances the humanitarian efforts of the Church.

Mormon Humanitarian Aid

Virtually 100% of donations to the Mormon Humanitarian Aid Fund go to actual humanitarian aid, making it a wise choice for philanthropic giving.  Mormon aid is often the first to arrive when a disaster occurs, and Mormon humanitarian aid workers are often the last to leave after a disaster, giving ongoing aid with a view to reconstruction.  The LDS Church also has many ongoing charitable projects.   The Church of Jesus Christ has donated $1.3 Billion worth of assistance since 1985.

Is the LDS Church Wealthy?

Although The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest religion in the United States and is now a world-wide church, it is still relatively small with over 14 million members (2011).  However, its sound financial practices have made it very financially stable.  Read about LDS Church finances here.

See also Mormon Money.

See also Mormons in Business.

See also Tithing.

Mitt Romney was the CEO at Bain and Company for one year, but that year changed the company forever. They were on the brink of bankruptcy when he was brought in to save it. In that single year, he brought them not just into the black, but made them profitable and did so without laying anyone off. A recent article in New York Mag said that no one who worked with Romney would swear or drink around him and everyone knew his social life revolved around his family, not his company.

Romney is described by Benjamin Wallace-Wells as a hard worker, egalitarian, and frugal. He never talked religion at work, but he lived up to the Church’s standards.

Read the article about Romney at Bain in Business Insider.

Mitt and Ann Romney have a net worth of over $200 million, and they’ve given generously to various charities.  Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are among the most charitable givers in America already, mostly because they pay tithing to the Church.  Tithing equals 10% of one’s increase, and in pioneer days was usually donated “in kind,” that is, in wool, wheat, and eggs.  Nowadays, it’s paid privately to the bishop of one’s congregation.  Tithing is used to run the Church.  Mormons make another donation once each month to feed the poor through the Church’s welfare program.  They may also make separate donations to a humanitarian aid fund, missionary support fund, perpetual education fund, or temple-building fund.  All donations are confidential, but one must be a full tithe-payer to enter the Mormon temple and participate in ordinances there.

Most of Mitt Romney’s charitable donations have gone to the Mormon Church, over and above the tithing he has paid.  He and Ann have also donated substantially to Brigham Young University.  In 1998, Romney gave BYU $1 million to create the George W. Romney Institute for Public Management in honor of his father, George Romney.

The couple established the Ann D. and W. Mitt Romney Charitable Foundation in 1993, just as he was preparing his ill-fated bid to unseat Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). It lay mostly dormant until 1999, when the couple deposited more than $3.6 million worth of high-tech stocks in it and began to make significant contributions.  Now known as the Tyler Charitable Foundation, it is scheduled to release its 2010 financial reports in fall of 2011.

The foundation has been the Romneys’ main vehicle for giving, whether to keep the lights on with a $10,000 check to a homeless shelter for veterans that couldn’t pay its electric bill or to send relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina ($10,000) and the South Asia earthquake and tsunami ($25,000).

The GOP presidential hopeful has donated $127,000 in proceeds from his 2010 campaign book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.” Seven charities serving children, cancer and MS patients and severely wounded veterans got donations ranging from $10,000 to nearly $33,000.

The businessman-turned-politician has also foregone payment for work he did as governor and as head of the Olympics.

As head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Romney took no salary for three years while donating $1 million to the games. Later, while he was entitled to $135,000 annually as governor of Massachusetts, he drew a salary of $1 a year for serving as the state’s chief executive. And while he hasn’t explicitly said so this time around, Romney vowed during his last campaign for the White House that, if elected, he would donate his $400,000 salary as president to charity. [1]

Ann, who suffers from M.S., donates her time as her health allows.  She has worked as a board member of New England Chapter of the MS Society, and has been a long-time supporter of the United Way of Massachusetts. She also has served as director of the Best Friends Foundation, a controversial program that promotes abstinence-only sex education for inner-city girls.

The Romneys have given more than $100,000 to research and service organizations for multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, cancer, epilepsy, Lou Gehrig’s Disease and AIDS.   They have lent support to The Boy Scouts of America, the Boston Scholars program for disadvantaged students and the Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund to prevent child abuse — where Ann Romney served on the board.  They gave $10,000 to the United Way Faith and Action Fund started by Ann Romney to help at-risk urban youth. Romney has given more than $60,000 to City Year, the Boston-based community service organization on whose board he once served.

The Romneys have also donated to conservative groups—the Massachusetts Family Institute, which fought same-sex marriage in the state;  the anti-abortion rights group Massachusetts Citizens for Life; Washington’s right-leaning Heritage Foundation; the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group; Citizens for Limited Taxation; and  Stanford’s Hoover Institution.

The Romneys have donated to Right to Play, an international group that uses sports as a developmental tool for children in disadvantaged areas of the world. His money has helped restore community baseball fields, teach sailing in Boston and support the U.S. Olympic handball team. The Romneys also have given nearly $20,000 to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation. It’s a cause close to the heart of Ann Romney, whose therapy to cope with MS has included horseback riding.  They have also donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.

Additional Resources:

Mitt Romney gives generously to charities. Being charitable is important to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon.

Attend a local meetinghouse.

One of Mitt Romney‘s talking points is that he is a proven “turn-around” expert.  ???He was a player at Bain Capital, which specializes in healing sick companies and turning around undervalued assets.  He rescued the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics,  he turned around Massachusetts as its governor, and now he’s ready to tackle the U.S. economy.

Romney claims that to effect a turn-around, one has to focus on it completely.  Instead of focusing on the economy, President Obama focused on healthcare, and he missed the boat on economic recovery.

Romney laid out his seven rules for a healthy economy for Business Insider Magazine. (To see the article, click here.)

1.  Lower employer tax rates — America’s are now the second highest in the world.

2.  Streamline regulations and make sure the bureaucracy can work with the private sector.

3.  Embrace fair-trade policies, and punish infractions, such as China’s undervalued currency and piracy.

4.  Reform energy policy.  The U.S. shouldn’t be importing energy.

5.  Establish an unquestioned rule of law.

6.  Establish extraordinary human capital by reforming immigration and education policies.

7.  A government must not spend more than it brings in.

Additional Resources:

Mitt Romney has revived many companies and organizations.

Mitt Romney is Mormon. Attend a local meetinghouse and learn more about Mormonism.

The New York Times has compiled an interactive timeline of the significant events in Mitt Romney‘s life and career.

Mitt Romney Life Timeline

The 2002 Olympic Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

By early 1999, the event was $379 million in debt.  It was announced that Frank Joklik, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC), and Dave Johnson, vice president, along with others had been involved in perks, benefits, and bribes that enabled Salt Lake City to be the host city for the 2002 Olympic Games.  Joklik resigned of his own free will.  Johnson, however,  was forced.

Then, on February 11, 1999, Mitt Romney left a successful entrepreneur career to be hired as the new CEO and president of the SLOC.

Romney has a history of rescuing large organizations from financial disaster (Bain and Company, 1990).  The salvation of the 2002 Games was no different.

In his three years at the helm in Salt Lake, Romney erased a $379 million operating deficit, organized 23,000 volunteers, galvanized community spirit and oversaw an unprecedented security mobilization just months after the September 11th terrorist attacks, leading to one of the most successful Olympics in our country’s history. (http://www.freestrongamerica.com/pa/ge/55/learn-about-mitt).

Thus, instead of being $379 million deficit, the event ended up with a profit of $100 million.  Romney spent a million dollars of his own money on the Olympics, and donated the $825,000 salary he earned as president and CEO of the SLOC to charity (http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/672kwvro.asp).

Mitt Romney’s business career is not the classic Horatio Alger story of a disadvantaged lad pulling himself up by the bootstraps to the highest pinnacle of capitalism. Graduates of Harvard–like Mitt Romney–don’t need bootstraps. But his is an impressive journey. (Lisa Turner and Kimberly Field, Mitt Romney:: The Man, His Values and His Mission, Mapletree Publishing Company, p. 19 ).

Mitt, a Harvard-bred prodigy in business, landed a position with Bain Consulting in 1978. Applying the painstaking discipline he’d acquired over the years and while in the top 5th of his MBA class (while simultaneously getting a law degree), he ruminated over numbers and potential investments. Since each partner in Bain had complete veto power, the process of selecting investments was a rigorous one. But Mitt’s caution and deliberate management style paid off when Bain purchased a Staples store for $650,000, ending up with a chain worth $18 billion.

In 1984, he raised mega-dollars (30 million) to form Bain Capital, the venture capital spinoff, which currently has assets over 40 billion. In 1991, he was called back to rescue Bain from financial disaster:

[Mitt] accepted the challenge, then assembled the partners and demanded unanimous support for his leadership and a commitment they would stay for a full year. All but one agreed. Romney restructured the massive debt, slashed expenses, and made difficult decisions about who to keep and who to let go. Romney kept the firm’s mission in mind. The partners met in grueling Saturday sessions so employees could serve clients during the week and not have to work in the shadow of closed-door meetings involving their future.

Within two years, Bain Consulting returned to a solid footing and remains a top consulting company today.

Of Mitt, says Fraser Bullock, a former Bain partner who worked with Romney on the Olympics: “He’s not an ideologue. He makes decisions based on researching data more deeply than anyone I know. As people get to know him better, they’ll see an extremely competent, strong leader.” It’s true. Mitt is known for his fixation with data, disparagement of waste, and diligent digging until he finds a working solution to a vexing problem.

In Mitt’s own words:

My ten years in consulting and my sixteen years in venture capital and private equity taught me that there are answers in numbers. Pile the budgets on my desk and let me wallow. Numbers can help solve a mystery. I discover trends, form hypotheses, most of which fail but lead to others that are more fruitful. Almost without exception, I learn something that is key to the success of the enterprise (Turnaround, Regnery Publishing Inc, Washington DC).

And that’s . . . more of Mitt Romney.