The Philanthropy 50 2009 Gift Profile: T. Denny Sanford

T. Denny Sanford: $60.7-million

Biggest beneficiary: Programs to prevent childhood diseases

Other key beneficiaries: College of Teacher Education & Leadership at Arizona State University; University of Minnesota

Donor’s background: Mr. Sanford is chairman of First Premier Bank, Premier Bankcard, and United National Corporation, all of which are in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Mr. Sanford, 74, pledged $35-million—of which $10-million has been paid—to establish programs to prevent childhood diseases. Although he declined to disclose the name of the organization to which he gave the money, through a spokesman Mr. Sanford indicated that the recipient’s programs have not yet been finalized or announced and will not be in place for at least another year. He plans to pay the remainder of the pledge over the next three years.

In addition, Mr. Sanford pledged $18-million to the College of Teacher Education & Leadership at Arizona State University, in Phoenix, for unrestricted use, and will make payments toward the pledge over the next six years in increments of $3-million a year. He also pledged $6-million to the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, for a new sports stadium and for the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He has paid $1.5-million toward that pledge and plans to pay the remainder at a rate of $500,000 a year.

His other donations include a $1-million pledge to support the World Golf Foundation, in St. Augustine, Fla.; a $400,000 pledge, of which $133,333 has been paid, to Arizona State University Foundation, in Tempe, for a program to benefit youths; and a separate pledge of $100,000 to the foundation for the university’s Connect program, an online discussion forum for parents of the institution’s students. He has paid $25,000 toward that pledge and plans to pay the remainder in $25,000 increments over the next three years. Mr. Sanford also gave $100,000 to City Blossom 2, a community-events project in Sioux Falls; $90,000 to Teach for America, in New York; and $6,000 to the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, in La Jolla, Calif., for spinal-cord injury research.

Although The Chronicle does not count or include on the Philanthropy 50 list payments made on past pledges, in 2009, one of the worst financial years on record, Mr. Sanford completed payment six years early on a $400-million pledge he made in 2007 to Sanford Health Foundation, in Sioux Falls, to establish pediatric clinics in the United States and abroad and to support pediatric health care and medical research.

“In these uncertain times, it seemed good and right to take care of this for my own piece 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,” said Mr. Sanford after he announced the payment in April.

—Maria Di Mento

View more profiles of donors who gave the most in 2009.