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?”
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