EUConsult Information Service
2007 February
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News / Resources
Funding News/Resources
- Mega-Philanthropy in the USA Hits New Highs in 2006
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual ranking of the sixty most-generous Americans, twenty-one Americans donated at least $100 million to charitable causes last year, nearly twice the number that did so in 2005. The list was topped by Warren E. Buffett, who pledged $43.5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and several foundations created by his children and late wife. Even without Buffett's donations, however, 2006 was a blockbuster year for American philanthropy, with the sixty most generous Americans committing some $7 billion to charity, compared with $4.3 billion in 2005. Moreover, each donor on the list gave at least $30 million to charity in 2006 — the highest minimum amount in the survey's ten-year history — while the median amount, excluding Buffett's donations, was $60 million. According to the Chronicle, the top five donors were Buffett; siblings Marion O. Sandler and Bernard A. Osher, former executives of Golden West Financial Corporation; real-estate mogul Jim Joseph; and Hector Guy and Doris Di Stefano, a couple who inherited much of their wealth from Di Stefano's father, a former UPS official.
Colleges and universities received thirty-four of the largest gifts, more than any other type of institution, followed by foundations, which received twenty-eight. While educational and research institutions often benefit from mega-gifts, last year's most generous donors also demonstrated interests in causes like global warming and gay rights that have not received as much attention in the past. In addition, most of the donors had longstanding relationships with the institutions to which they gave gifts, while nearly half called the West Coast home.
Philanthropy News Digest / View Chronicle of Philanthropy List of Donors
- Entrepreneurial philanthropy. Planetary philanthropy. Venture philanthropy. Innovative philanthropy. Hybrid philanthropy.
These are the terms that have been used to describe a new wave of philanthropic giving. These are also the terms that were heard throughout the two-day Slate 60 conference, held in January, which brought together the USA’s top 60 philanthropic donors. Top donors gathered at the conference to discuss the future of philanthropy and share their successful foundations and charitable programs. Unlike decades ago, these men and women didn’t send their foundation directors to discuss the details of their philanthropic efforts. They took the stage themselves to talk excitedly about addressing education in Atlanta, cleaning the water in Africa, understanding the global climate crisis and fighting AIDS in Third-world countries. Read more…
- New database screening service – Wealth Intelligence
Action Planning’s Raising Funds from the Rich Conference last October saw the launch of the consultancy’s new database screening service, Wealth Intelligence. The service is run in partnership with Prospecting For Gold who have the largest UK database of wealthy individuals with over 300,000 names on its system. Prospecting for Gold provides free quarterly reports on new millionaires in the UK via its website.
