‘Worth’: Charity as Status Symbol

Charity is today’s ultimate status symbol among the newly wealthy, declares Worth magazine on the cover of its December issue.

The issue contains several articles on various facets of philanthropy:

• A profile of the philanthropists featured on the cover, Steve and Michele Kirsch. Mr. Kirsch, 43, made his multimillion-dollar fortune through a variety of companies, including the Internet search engine he created, called Infoseek. Worth says he is a leader of new-economy donors in the “grandeur, if not the grandiosity, of his philanthropic ambitions.”
• A ranking of the 50 American companies that give the most to charity. Topping the list was the Merck pharmaceutical company, which gave more than $40-million in cash and $108-million worth of medicines to charitable projects.
• An examination of the popularity — and potential dangers — of tying corporate marketing efforts to philanthropy. A prime worry, says the magazine: “Americans are being seduced into thinking they are part of the great philanthropic ecoystem in which businesses need part with very little, in money, or imagination, or managerial effort, to become good corporate citizens, and in which the rest of us can become philanthropists simply by our voracious buying.”
• A how-to guide on the steps involved in building a private foundation.