The committee that sponsored the inaugural ceremony and celebration for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis – a wealthy former congressman who refused high-dollar donations while self-funding his campaign – took in more than $1.5 million from businesses, interest groups, unions and individual donors, according to documents obtained by Colorado Politics.

For years, Colorado’s incoming governors have established nonprofits to raise money to pay for their inauguration and associated festivities, which aren’t funded by the state.

The Colorado For All committee spent $1.3 million to throw Polis’ Jan. 8 inauguration at the state Capitol and a party later that night, dubbed the “Blue Sneaker Ball,” which featured a concert by pop star Cyndi Lauper and homegrown rockers Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.

After expenses, the committee had more than $200,000 left over, which it plans to distribute to five Colorado charities.

Polis, a tech entrepreneur, spent more than $23 million of his own money on last year’s gubernatorial run and capped campaign donations at $200 in what he described as an effort to keep from being beholden to monied interests.

He didn’t solicit any donations for the inaugural committee, a spokeswoman said.

Polis and his running mate, former state Rep. Dianne Primavera, defeated the Republican ticket of then-State Treasurer Walker Stapleton and then-state Rep. Lang Sias by a wide margin in a November election that saw Democrats sweep every statewide office and win majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.

“Gov. Polis’ historic inauguration was a celebration of bringing together the entire state of Colorado – a Colorado for All,” said committee spokeswoman Mara Sheldon in a written statement.

“The inauguration was supported through fundraising efforts, common and typical in our state, since public funds aren’t used for inaugural festivities. Donations were made by individuals, groups, nonprofits and businesses from all across the state. Their efforts not only made the events a huge success, but allowed for the Colorado for All Inaugural Committee to make donations to five Colorado nonprofit organizations.”

Through March 4, the committee reported raising $1,526,582 and said it spent $1,291,602, leaving $234,980 to give to the charities. A spokeswoman said the committee could receive more contributions as donors make good on their pledges.

With a donation of $185,000, the top contributor to Polis’ inaugural committee was the Colorado Economic Leadership Fund, a conservative political organization that doesn’t reveal its donors and spent heavily in last year’s election on ballot measures and to support Republicans.

Four donors chipped in $50,000 each: business organization Colorado Concern, the Sierra Club, Education Reform Now Advocacy, and leading Democratic donors Tim Gill and his husband, Scott Miller.

Another 18 donors – including influential law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Comcast, Xcel Energy and Vail Resorts – each forked over $25,000 to help pay for the inaugural festivities, and 30 donors gave at the next level, contributing between $10,000 and $15,000.

In all, the Polis committee listed 95 VIP donors who gave at least $2,000. (See the complete list of donors below.)

Additionally, roughly 2,500 people paid $35 or $75 for tickets to the gala, bringing in $181,000.

An unspecified number of donors contributed more than the general admission price for the inaugural ball but less than the $2,000 cut-off for reported donations.

Hours after Polis and other state officials were sworn in on the West Steps of the Capitol, more than 2,000 ticket-holders partied into the night at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Lauper belted out ’80s pop tunes and Rateliff brought the funk as revelers snacked on hummus and guacamole while sipping on locally produced craft beer and spirits.

VIP donors enjoyed reserved seating at the inauguration, parking privileges, access to an upper level at the museum and a commemorative gift – a neckerchief festooned with the inaugural logo.

Colorado For All’s co-chairs are Robin Hickenlooper, the wife of former Gov. John Hickenlooper and an executive at Liberty Media; Pitkin County attorney Blanca Uzeta O’Leary, a former member of the Democratic National Committee and the treasurer of Hickenlooper’s recently launched presidential campaign; and Rick Sapkin, founder of real estate firm Edgemark Development. Marlon Reis, Polis’s partner, is the honorary chair.

The inaugural committee operates as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, an organization that’s allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money and isn’t required to report donors.

At the inauguration, officials said they would make fundraising totals public by the end of January, but Sheldon said the release was delayed because donations were still arriving as recently as last week and committee officials wanted to provide a thorough accounting. She added that more donations could still be on their way.

The committee provided a list of vendors but didn’t release an itemized list of expenses. Details on spending will be available in October, when the committee files a required tax form, Sheldon said.

Nonprofits set to receive donations from the inaugural committee’s surplus funds include Rose Community Foundation, the Keensqesburg-based Wild Animal Sanctuary, Adams 14 Education Foundation, the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund and One Colorado, an advocacy organization for LGBTQ rights.

Sheldon said the committee hasn’t determined how to allocate the donations, which will be awarded later this month.

Polis’ committee raised more than twice what Hickenlooper’s committee took in to cover Colorado’s last inauguration, which also included a party and concert.

Hickenlooper reported raising $765,000 for the Colorado Up! committee that handled his 2013 inauguration and donated $244,000 of that to local nonprofits.

Four years earlier, Hickenlooper raised $626,000 for inaugural activities through the Colorado Can Do nonprofit, according to federal filings, and donated an unspecified amount to charities.

Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, Hickenlooper’s immediate predecessor, raised $1.1 million for his 2007 inauguration, which included an elaborate celebration involving two sit-down banquets, a concert by country singer Jessie Colter, a train trip from Greeley to Pueblo and an airplane ride around the state.

It later emerged that Ritter’s inaugural committee had improperly spent some $300,000 from inaugural funds on campaign expenses, resulting in lawsuits and a criminal inquiry.

Following are the major donors to the 2019 Polis inaugural committee with contributions above $2,000, according to records released by committee staff:     

$185,000

• Colorado Economic Leadership Fund

$50,000

• Colorado Concern
• Education Reform Now Advocacy
• Sierra Club
• Tim Gill and Scott Miller   

$25,000

• Aurora Highlands
• Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
• Burg Simpson
• Colorado for Civil Justice
• Comcast
• DaVita
• Deloitte
• HealthOne
• Heckman LLC
• Ken Tuchman
• Next Era Energy
• Pat Stryker
• Paul Tudor Jones
• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
• Rocky Mountain Pipefitters
• United Healthcare
• Vail Resorts
• Xcel Energy, Inc.     

$15,000

• FirstBank  

$12,500

• Colorado Contractor Association

$10,000

• Albertsons Safeway
• American Federation of Teachers
• Anheuser Busch
• Anthem
• AT&T
• BlackHills Energy
• Century Link
• Charter Communications
• Colorado Farm Bureau
• Colorado Dental Political Action Committee
• Colorado Bankers Association
• Colorado Fund for Children and Public Education?Colorado Hospital Association
• Colorado Professional Firefighters
• Construction Coalition
• CRL & Associates
• Iron Women Construction & Environmental Services
• Kroger
• L. Roger Hutson
• Liberty Media
• Lockheed Martin
• Lyft
• National Western Stock Show
• Plante Moran
• Racing Associates of Colorado
• Sales Force
• T-Mobile
• Visa

$5,000

• Advanced Network Management
• Amazon
• American Dream Alliance
• BNSF Railway
• Cigna
• Colorado AFL-CIO
• Coca-Cola
• Colorado Auto Brokers
• Colorado Auto Dealers
• CoreCivic
• David Younggren
• Denver Fire Fighters
• DocuSign
• Epicurean Group
• Folium Bio Sciences
• Healthier Colorado
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
• Independent Bankers
• Insikt, Inc.
• JC Huizenga
• Kiewit
• Larry Dipasquale
• MedNax, Inc.
• Microsoft
• NARAL Pro Choice Colorado
• NRDC Action Fund
• Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
• Property Casualty Insurers
• Ray Jafari
• Roger Sherman
• Ross Vaisman
• Sam Gary
• Sweetwater Partners
• Swire Coca-Cola
• Union Pacific Railroad
• USAA
• Vivage
• Waste Management 

$3,000

• Michael Bowman
• Tim Gordon

$2,500

• Mark Barrenechea
• Sydney Leung

$2,000

• Rutt Bridges

Colorado For All Report