July 21, 2005 | Read Time: 1 minute
In what is quickly becoming one of the most open secrets in the nonprofit world, Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor, has apparently made another big gift to charity.
Last month, just as it had done in each of the previous three years, the Carnegie Corporation of New York announced that it had received a big donation from a donor who insisted on anonymity and who wanted the money distributed to New York City groups. Carnegie officials have refused to say who the donor is, but rumors always fly that the money — in this case, $20-million — came from Mr. Bloomberg. Counting the most recent gift, Carnegie has announced gifts totaling $55-million from an anonymous donor over the past four years.
Officials at Carnegie and in Mr. Bloomberg’s office say they will not confirm whether the money came from Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire who made many big, public gifts before he became mayor. But The New York Times reported this month that an aide to Mr. Bloomberg and a Carnegie official had confirmed that the money came from Mr. Bloomberg.
Those officials say the Times erred, but plenty of signs point to Mr. Bloomberg. For example, Mr. Bloomberg’s aides told The Chronicle in March that the mayor had given $138-million last year to more than 600 nonprofit organizations, one of which was the Carnegie Corporation. That sum was enough for Mr. Bloomberg to rank No. 10 in The Chronicle‘s list of the biggest donors of 2004 (March 3).
The source of the money may not matter much to the beneficiaries. The Carnegie Corporation plans to provide money to 406 small and mid-sized institutions with the anonymous gift this year.
