Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

Save the Children (But Pay the Bills, Too)
The Wall Street Journal, 12/26/06

Tuesday, December 26th, 2006

Save the Children (But Pay the Bills, Too)
The Wall Street Journal, 12/26/2006

With Donors Balking at Overhead, Charities Make the Case For Funding Administrative Costs By

Melissa Berman recently turned down $90 million. The president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, a nonprofit consulting firm, declined the chance to manage a potential client’s $90 million gift to support charities helping children in the developing world.

The reason: The donor specified that all of the money was to go toward the charities’ programs and “not a penny was to go to operating expenses,” such as accounting or other administrative functions, Ms. Berman says. “It was a very unrealistic demand.”

In recent years, many donors have been critical of charities that spend money on themselves, rather than on delivering services to needy beneficiaries. Many givers have chosen to support charities that spend only a tiny fraction of their budget on overhead expenses, such as staff pay and facilities, while others have imposed restrictions on how their gifts could be spent. Such selective giving has been made easier by a host of recent charity-watchdog Web sites that evaluate how leanly and efficiently charities operate.

But now, nonprofits are trying to convince donors that spending money on overhead isn’t such a bad thing.

Read more…

$19 Million in Music Grants Awarded by Fund Created by “Payola” Settlement

Tuesday, December 19th, 2006

The New York State Music Fund helps broaden access to music through second round of grants to 218 nonprofit contemporary music appreciation programs.

New York, December 19, 2006 – Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors today announced 218 recipients of the second cycle of grants from the New York State Music Fund (“the Fund”), an innovative program created by the Office of the New York State Attorney General to make contemporary music of all genres more available and accessible to diverse audiences and communities within New York State. Nonprofit groups from over 75 towns and cities were awarded grants totaling $19 million for programs ranging from hip-hop to new classical music, and jazz to folk music from around the world. The Fund grew out of settlements with major recording companies investigated for violating state and federal laws prohibiting “pay for play” (also called “payola”).

“The greater number and variety of applications since our first round demonstrate the vitality of this creative sector across the state and the need to level the playing field for all forms of music,” said Jessica Chao, vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the nonprofit organization that developed and manages the grant program. “These 218 grants will go a long way toward fulfilling the Fund’s mission of ensuring that people of all ages, backgrounds and interests have an opportunity to discover new and less familiar performers and artists.”

The New York State Music Fund published guidelines and criteria and accepted grant applications in a number of categories, including music education and public performances of music by artists working in hip-hop, reggae, fusion, jazz, new classical and folk music of all cultures. Applications related to recording, distribution or broadcast through traditional and new media were also eligible. Special emphasis was placed on reaching underserved populations and broadening awareness of artists, genres or styles with limited access to commercial broadcast or other mass distribution vehicles. The Fund received a total of 402 applications for its second cycle.

Awards to the 218 grantees represent every region of New York State and range from $10,000 to $500,000. Diverse forms of popular or experimental music, including indie rock, salsa, electronic, fusion and reggae account for almost 37 percent of grants and more than 15 percent celebrate a spectrum of jazz; nearly 25 percent include new classical music. The state’s ethnic or racial minority communities are served by close to a third of all programs, while 28 percent specifically target rural communities. The Fund’s size and emphasis on music of our time in all its forms set it apart from other arts grant programs.

An Advisory Panel comprised of recognized leaders from a cross-section of the music world evaluated and recommended the applications based on criteria focusing on artistic merit and community impact. The panel included Carl Atkins, musician, composer, and professor at Rochester Institute of Technology; Don Byron, musician and composer; Joseph Dalton, arts reporter and critic; Richard Kessler, musician and executive director of The Center for Arts Education; Michael Orlove, senior program director for Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs; Elisabeth Perez-Luna, a producer, host and writer at WHYY-FM; Bobby Sanabria, musician, composer and educator; Daniel Sheehy, ethnomusicologist and director and curator of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings; and Elisabeth Vincentelli, Arts and Entertainment editor of Time Out New York.

Grantees include:

• Boys Club of New York (Harlem) $100,000
  For the Music School, offering children age six to 20 comprehensive music education including lessons in a variety of acoustic and electronic instruments as well as music technology and band ensemble, training in technique and theory, and numerous performing opportunities playing a range of music including jazz, R&B, rock, funk and classical.
• Irish Arts Center/An Claidheamh Soluis (New York) $100,000
  For the presentation of a concert performance by traditional Irish musicians, curated by scholar and performer Mick Moloney and filmed by Academy Award-winning director Paul Wagner, for broadcast on New York’s public television stations.
• Just Buffalo Literary Center $70,000
  To support the Interdisciplinary Program Series’ headline performances and the school-based Williamsville/Buffalo Poetry, Music, Dance Celebration bringing together students from 37 schools to create new works culminating in a public performance.
• Pregones Theater (Bronx) $65,000
  For “March is Music,” a month-long Latin music festival presenting a broad selection of concert performances, public dialogues, and artist-led educational activities to showcase the diversity and dynamism of Latino musical heritage.
• Seagle Music Colony (Schroon Lake) $70,000
  To present to Adirondack audiences the operas The Goose Girl by Thomas Pasatieri and Lysistrata by Mark Adamo, who will direct the opera and give a public lecture; and to workshop the first act of Stephen Schwartz’s opera Seance on a Wet Afternoon.
• SUNY Cortland $500,000
  For “Live from the Heart of New York,” a two-year collaborative project comprised of seven local arts and community development partners, offering a broad spectrum of musical fare such as jazz, blues, folk and world music. The project will present a series of concerts and events incorporating a range of educational activities including composing workshops and master classes and use technology to enable “on demand” access via podcasts and broadcast.
• WXXI Public Broadcasting Council (Rochester) $165,000
  To support “BackStage Pass,” a series of broadcasts coupled with artist interviews in an hour-long, twice-monthly series for television, radio, and the Web featuring regional artists from Western New York representing a variety of multigenerational music and the Rochester International Jazz Festival.

This second cycle of funding also included a number of grantees that represented the “Special Initiatives” category, specially designed to address the music field’s ability to monitor and maintain an open and fair marketplace. Grantees in this category include:

• Alliance of New York Arts Organizations (Mattituck) $115,000
  For online courses and a blog for New York State musicians, composers, performers to learn how to distribute and promote their music online, protect themselves in the marketplace, and enhance their skills at making a living through music.
• Future of Music Coalition (DC) $250,000
  For an initiative to inform New York State musicians and citizens through statewide forums and Internet resources about key arts and media policy issues related to supporting an open and fair marketplace for creativity and cultural diversity such as payola, media consolidation, copyright, and emerging technologies.
• WFMU (Jersey City) $400,000
  To develop, host, and maintain a non-commercial digital library of “podsafe” music targeted to New York musicians and audiences. This web site will offer free legal music downloads, utilizing public domain material and songs licensed under Creative Commons by their creators.

For a full list of grantees, background on The New York State Music Fund and updates on future plans, please visit: www.rockpa.org/music. The web site also lists grant awards from the first cycle, which total $13 million. For information about the payola settlements related to the recording and radio industries, visit www.oag.state.ny.us.

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About Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (www.rockpa.org) is an independent, nonprofit service that develops and manages effective giving programs throughout the world. In 2005 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors advised on and managed more than $130 million in giving to more than 30 countries. Headquartered in New York City with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, it traces its antecedents to John D. Rockefeller, Sr., who in 1891 began to professionally manage philanthropy “as if it were a business.” He set the style of family giving by specifying that grants would be used “for the well-being of people throughout the world.” Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors also includes The Philanthropic Collaborative, a special donor-advised fund for international giving and special projects including partnerships with major public and private institutions.

How You Can Deduct Now, Give Later
The Christian Science Monitor, 12/11/06

Monday, December 11th, 2006

How you can deduct now, give later
The Christian Science Monitor, 12/11/06

Want to share the wealth, but don’t know where? Financial experts point to donor-advised funds as a good choice.

Establishing an endowment for charitable distributions is no longer the exclusive province of the wealthy, thanks in large measure to intensifying competition in the financial services industry.

In October, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund cut the minimum amount required to open a donor-advised fund in half. Donors may now establish a fund, which is an investment account earmarked for charitable distribution, with as little as $5,000.

The move marks the latest volley in what’s becoming a quest to manage the hundreds of millions that Americans collectively set aside each year to donate. On July 1, Fidelity dropped its fees from 1 percent per annum to 0.6 percent on all accounts valued under $500,000. That same day, Schwab Charitable matched Fidelity’s new fee structure on accounts in that same size range.

All this jockeying is good news in terms of tax-saving opportunities and convenience for folks who don’t have money to burn, according to financial planners and advisers who focus on charitable giving. In the process, systems are taking shape to make charitable giving a way of life in households where it hasn’t always been.

“What we’re seeing is further democratization of charitable giving in this country,” says Doug Bauer, senior vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, a nonprofit consultancy in New York City. “This really makes organized philanthropy a part of people’s lives.”

Read more…

The Science Of Smart Giving,
BusinessWeek, 12/11/06

Friday, December 8th, 2006

The Science Of Smart Giving
BusinessWeek, 12/11/06

Squeezing the most good from large-scale donations takes serious planning. Here are five success stories.

How do you give away $10 million? You could start adding zeros to whatever checks you are writing to charitable institutions and worthy causes. But if you’re going to hand over an eight-figure sum, you’ll want more than a thank-you letter and a receipt to show the tax man. Such amounts “raise a question that isn’t just material but emotional: How much impact am I going to have?” says Paul Schervish, director of Boston College’s Center on Wealth & Philanthropy.

The tricky question for philanthropists is this: In an era of Buffett-sized billion-dollar gifts, when the number of donations that topped a million dollars has more than quadrupled to 2,197 last year from just 423 in 1985, how do you sift through the multitude of good causes to find the place where your contribution can really make a difference?

The key to success is focus, according to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisor’s Melissa Berman, who works with families to develop their philanthropic strategies. She urges families to start not with a particular charity, but with a conversation about values. Does it matter more, say, to support medical research or to embrace the arts? Once you’ve chosen a cause, search out the underdog. If, for example, everyone is giving to the American Diabetes Assn., you might want to consider supporting a diabetes group that hasn’t received much funding. Then, work with advisers you trust–be they philanthropic consulting firms, wealth managers, or friends and colleagues who have experience in philanthropy–to find the best method to put your funds to use. Giving strategies are as diverse as the causes that vie for philanthropic support. Here are five examples of how families and individuals have put their wealth to work.

Read more…

Special Report on Philanthropy - Personal Passions,
Barron’s, 11/27/06

Monday, November 27th, 2006

Special Report on Philanthropy - Personal Passions
Barron’s, 11/27/06

Today it’s less United Way and more My Way when it comes to giving. Top donors often favor special causes where they can have an impact – and feel a connection.

Donald and Barbara Jonas turned plenty of heads in the New York art world last year when they sold 15 works from their cutting-edge collection of contemporary art to raise funds for philanthropic giving. The pieces, including some by the likes of de Kooning and Rothko, fetched $44.2 million at Christie’s.

What the couple has been doing with that money is equally striking. Rather than backing big, popular causes like hunger relief or improved education, the Jonases, like a growing number of philanthropists, have homed in on a narrow field where they can not only have an impact but also find personal meaning. The Jonases, both in their 70s, decided to funnel their millions to the nursing profession. “When we are younger, we don’t think about nursing that much,” says Barbara Jonas, a former psychiatric social worker. “As we get older, we realize that the quality of care we get is going to depend a lot on nurses.”

The Jonases – Donald was the founder of the Lechter’s chain of home-goods stores – grew alarmed by projections that the U.S. faces a shortfall of one million nurses within two decades. So earlier this year they launched a foundation called the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence. It already has award-ed $3 million in grants to 11 collaborative projects between nursing schools and hos-pitals. This month they hosted a confer-ence in New York that brought together some 350 nurses, educators and policy-makers under the heading “Who Will Care for Me?”

Read more…

Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health Announces Second Cycle of Grants Awarded by Panel of Community Leaders

Monday, July 24th, 2006

Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health Announces Second Cycle of Grants Awarded by Panel of Community Leaders

Collaborative initiative convened by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors awards $250,000 to organizations providing direct support to Gulf Coast revitalization

NEW YORK (July 24, 2006) – Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors today announced seventeen grants from its Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health (“the Fund”) that were awarded by panels composed of Gulf Coast community leaders. The grants, which totaled $250,000, were awarded to organizations in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia addressing such issues as housing and urban planning; needs of hurricane survivors and the diaspora; youth; culture and arts; worker and day laborer rights; and environment, health and green rebuilding.

The Fund is a special collaborative initiative created by local community leaders and experienced grantmakers to support the revitalization of the Gulf Coast. This is the second grant cycle awarded by the panel of local leaders. Since its inception in September 2005, the Fund has awarded nearly $700,000 in grants.

“The Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health is an important way that the philanthropic community is responding to the devastation wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said Melissa A. Berman, president and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. “Working with local community leaders is key to addressing the underlying problems that would prevent the sustainable and just redevelopment of the Gulf Coast region. We’re pleased that in a relatively short time, we have been able to make grants that will have a marked impact on achieving the goals of sustainable redevelopment and building community-based regional power that can inform and influence policy on all levels.”

The grantees include:

• Alliance for Affordable Energy
• Center for Environmental and Economic Justice
• Common Ground Worker Education Project
• Community Advocacy, Research and Education, Inc.
• Gert Town Revival Initiative
• Grand Bayou Community United
• JuneBug Productions, Inc.
• Kids Rethinking New Orleans’ Schools
• Lighthouse Community Development Corporation
• Louisiana Bayoukeeper
• Louisiana Interchurch Conference
• Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation
• People’s Organizing Committee
• New Orleans Kids Camera Project
• Portersville Revival Group
• Southwest Workers Union
• US Human Rights Network

Founded in 2005 by 13 donors, the Fund is overseen by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors professionals who donate their time in the grantmaking and outreach process. Founding donors include the Agua, Beldon, Dome, John Merck and Rockefeller Brothers Funds; the Ford, Jenifer Altman, Johnson Family, Mitchell Kapor, Nathan Cummings and Park Foundations; and The New York Community Trust.

The Fund’s Advisory Group is comprised of a cross-section of Gulf Coast community leaders who advise on Fund strategies, policies and identify needs on an ongoing basis; the Advisory Group used its local perspective to make recommendations to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which is ultimately responsible for the final decisions.

Members of the Advisory Board include:

Sharon Alexis
Katrina House of Care
New Orleans, LA

Dr. Regina Benjamin
BayouClinic
Bayou La Batre, AL

Bishop James Black
Ctr. for Environmental and Economic Justice
Biloxi, MS

Elodia Blanco
Concerned Citizens of Agriculture St. Landfill
Tickfaw, LA

Stephen Bradberry
New Orleans ACORN
New Orleans, LA

LaTosha Brown
Saving OurSelves Coalition
Mobile, AL

Victoria Cintra
Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance
Jackson, MS

Johanna Congleton
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Louisiana
New Orleans, LA

Pam Dashiell
Holy Cross Neighborhood Association
New Orleans, LA

Scott Douglas
Greater Birmingham Ministries
Birmingham, AL

Derrick Evans
Turkey Creek Community Initiatives
Gulfport, MS

Joe Forte, Jr.
Citizen of Chalmette
St. Bernard, LA

Shana Griffin
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence and
The Women’s Health & Justice Initiative
New Orleans, LA

Monique Harden
Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
New Orleans, LA

Jaribu Hill
MS Workers Center for Human Rights
Greenville, MS

Derrick Johnson
MS-NAACP
Jackson, MS

Rose Johnson
No. Gulfport Community Land Trust
Gulfport, MS

Brenda Robichaux
United Houma Nation
Raceland, LA

Wilma Subra
Subra Company
New Iberia, LA

Huy Bui
National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies
Silver Spring, MD

Aaron Viles
Gulf Restoration Network
New Orleans, LA

Angela Winfrey-Bowman
People’s Institute for Survival & Beyond
New Orleans, LA

Beverly Wright
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Baton Rouge, LA

“The 54 grants we have awarded since March are illustrations of the scope of needs still unmet in the Gulf Coast region,” said Penny Fujiko Willgerodt, a vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors who is overseeing the Fund. “Deep involvement of community leaders who bring to the process diverse perspectives allows the Fund to take important steps in addressing these needs and to have a lasting impact on the region.”

Applications for the next cycle of grantees are due in early October 2006 and will be announced in November. Organizations interested in submitting grant proposals can obtain more information on the Fund’s Web site (http://rockpa.org/gulfcoastfund/rfp/)

Music Fund Created by “Payola” Settlement Makes First Grants

Wednesday, July 12th, 2006

$13 million awarded by The New York State Music Fund to 153 nonprofit contemporary music appreciation programs

New York, July 12, 2006 – Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors today announced the first 153 grantees of the New York State Music Fund (“the Fund”), a groundbreaking grant program created by the Office of the New York State Attorney General to make contemporary music of all genres more available and accessible to diverse audiences and communities within New York State. Grants totaling $13 million were awarded to nonprofit groups from Oswego to Brooklyn for programs ranging from hip-hop to new classical music, and jazz to folk music from around the world. The Fund grew out of settlements with major recording companies investigated for violating state and federal laws prohibiting “pay for play” (also called “payola”).

“This first round of grants, in its geographic breadth and diversity of exciting programs, represents a significant step in achieving the Fund’s goals to enable people all across the state to experience the joy of music, and especially to learn about new forms of music,” said Jessica Chao, vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the nonprofit organization that developed and manages the grant program. “The enthusiastic response we received from groups of many sizes and types demonstrates the deep interest in music by people of all ages and backgrounds, and the related needs that remain unmet in many communities. We’re pleased to be part of the solution.”

The New York State Music Fund published guidelines and criteria and accepted grant applications in a number of categories, including music education and public performances of music by artists working in hip-hop, reggae, fusion, jazz, new classical and folk music of all cultures. Applications related to recording, distribution, or broadcast through traditional and new media were also eligible. Special emphasis was placed on reaching underserved populations and broadening awareness of artists, genres or styles with limited access to commercial broadcast or other mass distribution vehicles. The Fund received a total of 304 applications for its first cycle.

Awards to the 153 grantees represent every region of New York State and range from $15,000 to $750,000. Diverse forms of popular or experimental music, including hip-hop, indie rock, fusion and reggae account for about 37 percent of grants and more than 13 percent celebrate a spectrum of jazz; 30 percent include new classical music. The state’s ethnic or racial minority communities are served by 45 percent of the programs, while 47 percent target low-income communities. The Fund’s size and emphasis on music of our time set it apart from other arts grant programs.

An Advisory Panel comprised of recognized leaders from a cross-section of the music world evaluated and recommended the applications. The panel included Karen Park Canning, ethnomusicologist and musician; Joseph Dalton, arts reporter and critic; Willie L. Hill, Jr., musician, educator and director of the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Murray Horwitz, radio commentator, songwriter and director of the American Film Institute’s Silver Theater and Cultural Center; James Jordan, music publisher and former director of the New York State Council on the Arts’ music program; Mike Ross, director of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Mildred Ruiz, singer, actress and playwright; Ray Vega, jazz trumpeter and lecturer at the music conservatory at SUNY-Purchase; and Su Zheng, ethnomusicologist and associate professor of music at Wesleyan University.

Grantees include:

• City Parks Foundation (New York City) to expand free concerts to low-income neighborhoods in all five boroughs of New York City showcasing hip-hop, reggae, soul, funk, blues, Latin American, and jazz music – $230,000
• Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center (Buffalo) for increased programming of experimental and new music to be presented in The Church, its new space featuring concerts, residencies, new works and recordings - $150,000
• Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture (Bronx) for Bomplenazo 2006: A Biennial of Afro-Puerto-Rican Culture and the Mott Haven Latin Jazz Connection, two festivals celebrating the African and Latin musical roots of the South Bronx - $90,000
• Mama Foundation for the Arts for Gospel for Teens (Harlem), a community-based music education program stressing artistic discipline and commitment by training aspiring teens in this uniquely American musical form - $30,000
• North Country Public Radio (Adirondack Region) for “UpNorth Music,” a collaborative project with regional arts councils to record, archive, broadcast, and podcast all genres of music by artists living and working in New York’s North Country - $330,000
• Syracuse Jazz Fest, which annually features legendary artists such as David Fathead Newman, Dr. John, Ahmad Jamal, Diana Krall, Richie Havens, Jimmy Heath, Aaron Neville and the Ramsey Lewis Trio, among others - $39,000

A full list of grantees and information about the second cycle of applications, which are due by September 12 and will be announced in late December, can be found at www.rockpa.org/music

Great News for the World
BusinessWeek Online, 6/27/06

Wednesday, July 5th, 2006

Great News for the World
BusinessWeek Online, 6/27/06

Warren Buffett’s gift of $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest gift in history by a multiple of 20, excluding the Gateses’ $29 billion gift (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/27/06, “Buffett’s Mega-Gift”). It will eventually drive the Gates Foundation’s endowment to double its size. Indeed, the endowment of the Gates Foundation—already the richest in the U.S.—will be larger than the combined endowments of the other 9 foundations on the top 10 list.

After Buffett’s announcement at the New York Public Library on June 26, Melissa Berman, chief executive and president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in New York City, spoke with BusinessWeek.com’s Bremen Leak on the significance of the gift and the impact it will have on charitable giving in the U.S. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow:

It must have been extraordinary to witness such a historic moment in philanthropy. As someone who advises donors on a daily basis, what was your initial reaction to the announcement this morning?
This is great news for the world—period. The capacity that these donors will have to make an impact on the world with their own donations and innovative partnerships is incredible. Warren Buffett’s gift was very unique.

Read more…

5 Questions For…
Philanthropy News Digest, 6/30/06

Wednesday, July 5th, 2006

5 Questions For…
Doug Bauer, Senior Vice President, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

Philanthropy News Digest, 6/30/06

Doug Bauer is a senior vice president at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, an independent nonprofit service that provides research and counsel on charitable giving, develops philanthropy programs, and offers complete program, administrative and management services for foundations and trusts. PND spoke with Bauer a few days after Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett announced that he will donate the bulk of his $44 billion fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Philanthropy News Digest: Warren Buffett’s gift to the Gates Foundation has been described as “historic” and “unprecedented.” Is that an accurate characterization?

Doug Bauer: It is. Mr. Buffett’s gift is unprecedented in its size and structure, as well as in the fact that it is going to substantially increase the grantmaking of someone else’s foundation. It was also a selfless act, and a very smart move on his part.

PND: Why do you think Buffett chose to do this now?

DB: From everything I’ve read and heard, I think there were two reasons. First, it was his expectation that his late wife, Susan, would outlive him and be responsible for the family’s philanthropy. When she passed away in 2004, Mr. Buffett needed to rethink the original plan for their charitable giving. Second, and on a parallel track, he developed a meaningful relationship with Bill and then with Melinda Gates. In the process — and this is a key point — he came to respect and trust their approach to philanthropy. He admires their stewardship of the Gates Foundation and how they approach and attack the problems they have chosen to address. In the end, I think it was the convergence of these two dynamics that led him to make his extraordinary gift.

Read more…

A Lesson From Buffett: Give While Living
The Wall Street Journal, 7/5/06

Wednesday, July 5th, 2006

A Lesson From Buffett: Give While Living
Billionaire’s Gift Shows Benefits Of Giving Now — Still, Some Donors Can Risk Running Out of Funds

The Wall Street Journal, 7/5/06

You don’t have to be as rich as Warren Buffett to give away your money like him.

Numerous investors have tried to emulate Mr. Buffett’s famous investing style to build fortunes of their own. Now, philanthropy advisers believe his new philanthropic plan will become a model for how to donate money in order to get the maximum charitable impact.

Last week the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman said he plans to give the bulk of his huge fortune — a gift worth about $31 billion in Berkshire shares — to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, starting this year. Mr. Buffett also is giving about $6 billion to four family foundations, including ones run by his three children.

The moves reflect growing interest among wealthy people in making big donations while they are alive, rather than as a bequest at death. Philanthropy advisers say giving while living, as it’s called, is often a smart choice. For starters, donors can reap the joy — and, in some cases, publicity — over their good deed. What’s more, donors can keep tabs on their gift, eyeing whether the money is being used effectively.

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