Anonymous Giving Is Choice of Many Americans
Anonymous Giving Is Choice of Many Americans
A year of natural disasters has created millions of anonymous American donors who readily contribute to the Red Cross or feed the Salvation Army pot and expect nothing in return, Knight-Ridder reports.
One such donor, auto dealer Andy Budd of Warrenton, Virginia, showed up in Biloxi, Mississippi, five days after Hurricane Katrina with a truckload of generators, chain saws, and gasoline for residents of the city who'd been left powerless and left instructions to pass them along to other families in need once they were finished with them. He also gave his new pickup to Biloxi's devastated fire department.
Elsewhere, an anonymous billionaire is now setting up a foundation in New York City, according to people who have been recruited or consulted by the unidentified organization, to spend $50 million a year, mainly on improving health in sub-Saharan Africa. Following the strategy of Charles Feeney, who made billions with his Duty-Free shops and kept his philanthropy secret for twenty years, the new foundation will be incorporated offshore and will donate through other entities, including offshore ones. Harvey Dale, the lawyer who devised Feeney's strategy and created what became the Atlantic Philanthropies, said Feeney believes "that the great work in the nonprofit sector was not done by the people who provided the money, but by the people who did the good works."
Nevertheless, a 1991 survey by Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy found that only about 1 percent of gifts of $1 million or more were given anonymously. Dwight Burlingame, assistant director of the center, said the wealthy tended to give anonymously until the late nineteenth century, often because they were contributing to controversial causes such as abolition, mental health, immigrant aid, and sex education.
Today's fundraisers, on the other hand, discourage anonymous gifts by the wealthy because named donors often persuade others to give. Still, Budd, who was traced through the transfer records of the donated pickup, said he preferred to give anonymously. "When there's publicity," he said, "some people figure that the only reason you did it was to sell a car."
Greve, Frank.
“Millions of Americans Donate Anonymously.”
Knight-Ridder
11/10/05.
Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Secondary Subject(s): Hurricane Relief
Location(s): National, United States
FC008366
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