President Donald Trump’s charitable foundation saw a sharp increase in fundraising in the year he was elected, largely stemming from a fundraiser he held for veterans groups, a new financial disclosure shows.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation raised $2.8 million in 2016, more than three times as much as the $780,000 it raised the previous year, according to tax filings released by GuideStar, a nonprofit that hosts a database of financial disclosures

Its largest donors were Phil Ruffin, a billionaire casino owner who was a top donor to Mr. Trump’s campaign and served on his transition and inaugural committees, and Laura Perlmutter, who also served on the inaugural committee and is the wife of Ike Perlmutter, chairman of Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Entertainment unit. Each gave $1 million.

Both donors have said their donations were for the veterans’ groups fundraiser.

Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, also donated $100,000. A foundation run by Steven Roth gave $50,000; Mr. Roth is chief executive of the real-estate investment trust Vornado Realty Trust and was tapped by Mr. Trump earlier this year to head up an infrastructure advisory council.


John Cafaro, an Ohio developer, donated another $50,000.

Mr. Trump himself didn’t donate to the foundation, and hasn’t done so since 2008.

Mr. Trump held the fundraiser for veterans groups in January, staging the event rather than attending a Fox News presidential debate ahead of the Iowa caucuses. At the time, he was in a public spat with the network.

The fundraising effort later came under scrutiny after it was reported that his foundation had doled out just a fraction of the money it had raised.


Mr. Trump’s campaign later released a list of veterans groups it said had received donations from the foundation. The disclosure shows the foundation donated to groups including the Green Beret Foundation, Racing for Heroes, Veterans in Command and Connected Warriors.

The New York state attorney general’s office last fall demanded the Trump foundation suspend fundraising activity in the state after it failed to register as an organization that solicits or receives charitable contributes in New York. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is conducting a wider investigation into whether the foundation complied with rules restricting revenues from flowing to directors or officers. At the time, the Trump campaign called the investigation a “left wing hit job.”

In December, Mr. Trump said he would close his foundation to avoid any conflicts of interest while he was in office. A statement attached to the tax filings said the organization plans to transfer remaining funds to “highly qualified and important” charities.

In 2016, the foundation also gave $50,000 to the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, the Upper West Side school Mr. Trump’s son, Barron, attended until this summer. It donated the same amount the previous year.


—Julie Bykowicz contributed to this article.

Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com