2007: Noteworthy Gifts | PND | Foundation Center

Posted on January 2, 2008

2007: Noteworthy Gifts

PND Special Issue: 2007: Year in Review - Noteworthy Gifts

Eight- and nine-figure gifts were commonplace in 2007, with most going, as they have in the past, to higher education, health, and cultural organizations.

"Mega-gifts are very concentrated in a few types of organizations," said Gary A. Tobin, co-author of a study on giving patterns in American philanthropy by the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish & Community Research. "Religious organizations, human services for the needy, and umbrella campaigns like the United Way are the big losers in attracting the largest gifts. Colleges and universities are the biggest winners."

One of the biggest winners in 2007 was Columbia University, which received $400 million from Metromedia founder and longtime supporter John Werner Kluge for undergraduate and graduate scholarships and fellowships. Another New York City institution, Weill Cornell Medical College, also received $400 million — the bulk of it from Joan and Sanford I. Weill, chairman emeritus of Citigroup. Claremont McKenna College, in California, received $200 million from alumnus and trustee Robert Day, while Baylor College of Medicine, Brown University, Colby College, Duke University, MIT, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, the University of the Pacific, the University of Virginia, and Washington & Lee University all received gifts of $100 million or more during the year.

Those institutions had nothing on the George School, a small coeducational boarding and day school in Newton, Pennsylvania, which will receive $128.5 million over twenty years from alumna Barbara Dodd Anderson. Anderson�s father, David Dodd, was a well-known economist and professor at the Columbia School of Business who taught Warren Buffett and became an investor in Buffett�s Berkshire Hathaway when it was still a textile company.

In the area of health and medical research, Utah philanthropists Jon and Karen Huntsman pledged at least $600 million for cancer research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute; South Dakota businessman T. Denny Sanford gave $400 million to the Sioux Valley Hospitals & Health System; Viacom chairman Sumner M. Redstone pledged a total of $105 million to FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, Cedars-Sinai Prostate Cancer Center in Los Angeles; and Chicago philanthropist Ann Lurie gave $100 million to that city�s Children�s Memorial Hospital.

And then there was the anonymous donor who gave $100 million to the local community foundation in Erie, Pennsylvania, to make unrestricted gifts to forty-six local nonprofits. "Almost everyone was stunned [by the size of the gift]," said ECF president Mike Batchelor. "There are a lot of nonprofit CEOs that have been there a long time and it's such a validation of their work. We're all going to need time to let this sink in."

Fund for Wisconsin Scholars Establishes $175 Million Endowment for Scholarships (12/19/07)

LACMA Receives Modern Art Collection Worth $100 Million (12/14/07)

Largest Philanthropic Gifts Go to Colleges and Universities, Study Finds (12/12/07)

Many Top Philanthropists Choose to Give Close to Home (11/20/07)

Rochester Nonprofits May Receive up to $500 Million From Developer's Estate (10/10/07)

Anonymous Donor Pledges $100 Million to Erie Community Foundation (10/10/07)

MIT Receives $100 Million for Cancer Research (10/11/07)

Claremont McKenna College Receives $200 Million From Alumnus (9/28/07)

Pennsylvania Private School to Receive $128.5 Million (9/20/07)

Baylor College of Medicine Receives $100 Million to Recruit Scientists, Physicians (9/13/07)

Children's Memorial in Chicago Receives $100 Million From Local Benefactor (9/07/07)

Salt Lake City Philanthropists Donate $600 Million for Cancer Research (7/3/07)