Hope Florida charity paid for hotel rooms, perks for DeSantis officials [View all]

Nonprofit experts say the golf fundraiser was unusual in multiple ways.

Gov. Ron DeSantis touted last year’s Governor’s Cup charity golf weekend as a fundraising success for the fledgling Hope Florida Foundation, saying it raised “massive amounts of money.”

Yet few of the attendees — which included officials in the governor’s administration, his former campaign advisers and state contractors — donated to it. Several said they didn’t even know the charity sponsored it, even though the nonprofit gave them custom golf bags and paid for their rooms, meals and drinks.

The two-day event at a private club illustrates not only the overlap between the foundation’s charitable arm and the DeSantis political operation, but messiness with the financial oversight of the nearly 2-year-old organization.

Following questions from the Times/Herald, the charity is scrambling to file paperwork required by Florida law to notify state officials and lawmakers about the value of the gifts it provided as part of the event. The reports were due March 1.

Foundation officials are also correcting the charity’s IRS tax filing to more accurately show how much the event made.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/06/14/hope-florida-foundation-desantis-governors-cup-fundraiser-lobbyists-lawmakers/

Hope Florida? More like Dope Floriduh.