BY ANDREW FARRELL
The Posse Foundation, which kicked off a massive fundraising drive this week, will need to reach its $50 million target without Lehman Brothers.
“The loss of Lehman is enormous,” says Deborah Bial, president of the foundation. Posse is a college access and youth leadership development program. Lehman, a major Posse donor, became another victim of the financial crisis last week when it declared bankruptcy. With Lehman gone, Bial hopes to tap wealthy individuals to commit $1 million a year for the next five years. Those donors could prove elusive.
A new survey by the private wealth-research firm Prince & Associates shows that affluent Americans are curtailing giving. It’s a dramatic turnaround from earlier this year when segments of rich America were actually upping their generosity.