Recession Prompts Two Big Donors to Pay Charitable Pledges Early

Three of the country’s top philanthropists have paid off big pledges much earlier than expected.

• T. Denny Sanford completed payment six years early on a $400-million pledge he made in 2007.

• Sanford I. and Joan Weill have given $170-million in cash to Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York, and to Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y., in fulfillment of what was originally a $300-million pledge the couple made to the medical school and the university in 2007 that was to have been part of their estate.

The donors said the recession prompted them to pay off their pledges ahead of time.

“In these uncertain times, it seemed good and right to take care of this for my own peace of mind, and to help Sanford Health to be confident in continuing their momentum on the various research and pediatric health initiatives as they gain the benefit of receiving funds earlier than anticipated,” wrote Mr. Sanford, who is the chairman of First Premier Bank, Premier Bancard, and United National Corporation, all in Sioux Falls, S.D., in an e-mail message.

Although Mr. Sanford’s wealth was reported as $2-billion last October by Forbes magazine, he says that estimate is wrong. He will not say how much money he has lost since the markets began to tumble last year, but he says he started to see losses in September.

This month, Mr. Sanford paid $200-million to Sanford Health Foundation, in Sioux Falls. It was the last installment on the 2007 pledge, which Mr. Sanford had planned to pay off in $50-million annual increments over eight years unless he could find a way to accelerate the payments. The money will support medical-research programs at the University of South Dakota’s medical school, in Sioux Falls; a project to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes; the creation of pediatric clinics in the United States and abroad; and the Sanford Healthcare Campus of the Future program, a building project designed to bring together in one place the Sanford Health system’s hospitals, clinics, and research and education facilities.

Cornell Gift

Mr. Weill, chairman emeritus of Citigroup, and his wife came to an agreement with the university on the amount of their cash payment late last year, after David J. Skorton, Cornell University’s president, and Peter C. Meinig, chairman on the university’s Board of Trustees, asked Mr. and Ms. Weill to fulfill their pledge early to ensure that the construction of a new research building would not be stalled.

Originally the Weills intended the initial $300-million pledge to be paid off by their estate at their death, but instead they gave the medical school half of the new amount, $170-million, in December 2008 and the other half in January 2009. Some of the money was given through the Weill Family Foundation, but Mr. Weill would not disclose exactly how much.

Mr. Weill said in an interview that the recession prompted him and his wife to agree to make the reduced payment so as not to hinder the building project, and to encourage other donors to donate to the medical school, and the university, which is running a $4-billion capital campaign.

“Lots of institutions were having problems with their investment portfolio in the second half of the year and everybody was sort of frozen and nobody was doing anything except feeling bad. So I thought it was a very important time for us to do something that would be dramatic,” said Mr. Weill.

Medical School

The medical school will use $135-million of the $170-million total for a matching program in which $1 of Mr. and Ms. Weill’s money will be added to every $1.50 given by other donors toward the building project. Officials at the medical school say they expect this matching program to help raise more than $200-million, on top of the Weills’ gift.

Mr. Weill is chairman of the medical school’s Board of Overseers, and graduated from the university in 1955.

Forbes magazine pegged Mr. Weill’s wealth at $1.3-billion last fall, and reported in March that his wealth decreased by $600-million.

Mr. Weill would not confirm that information, but said losing a portion of his wealth “wasn’t a happy occurrence.”

Counting this recent gift, the Weills and their foundation have given the medical school and the university a combined total of more than $500-million.