September 6, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
Wealthy people under 35 are enjoying increasing influence over charity galas in New York, reports W, a fashion magazine (September).
Charities have turned to such people in part because many of the paper millionaires and corporations they courted in the 1990s have been caught in the clutches of the economic downturn.
Young socialites are increasingly favoring old, established institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library, according to the magazine. For the first time, the New York City Opera is offering a junior ticket to its grand gala this month for $250. “The juniors are bringing new blood and old money into those institutions,” says one event planner.
The young people’s taste for old-guard institutions is disadvantaging many groups that had previously been in favor, including those that work to eradicate disease. Even AIDS charities, once among the most popular causes, have seen interest in their benefit galas wane, in part because of medical progress in treating the disease.
The juniors are also attracting unwanted guests. Complains one frequent attendee: “There are all these men who go to the junior events, and they’re on a wife safari, hunting down all the pretty little 25-year-olds.”
