‘Big Lebowski’ House Is Donated to L.A. Museum
The striking modernist house featured in the 1998 Coen brothers cult film has been bequeathed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, along with a $17 million endowment for its upkeep, the Los Angeles Times reports.
$50 Million Donation Expands U. of Chicago Financial Aid
The gift from tech investor Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman, boosts financial-aid programs for low-income students at the university, which Ms. Heyman attended, writes The New York Times.
Arnold Foundation Gives $7 Million More to Drug-Price Fight
The Laura and John Arnold Foundation is giving $7.2 million to four groups for research and pilot projects aimed at reining in prescription-drug prices, their second significant contribution to that cause in seven months, reports The Wall Street Journal.
$25 Million From Oberndorf Fund Boosts Psychiatry Research
The University of California at San Francisco announced a $25 million commitment from the Bill and Susan Oberndorf Foundation to support research aimed at uncovering the bases of autism, schizophrenia, depression, and other psychiatric conditions.
Gifts Roundup: $10 Million Establishes Professorships at Bates College
Other recent gifts include $61 Million to the Rochester Area Community Foundation and $5 million to endow a scholarship fund at Morgan State University.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Financier David Rubenstein Announces Big Gift to Lincoln Memorial
The donation is one in a long list of contributions Mr. Rubenstein has made to public institutions in and around the nation’s capital.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Beverage-Firm Clan Gives $61 Million to Rochester Foundation
The donation from the Sands family, which operates one of the country’s biggest producers of wine, beer, and spirits, establishes a fund to support the arts, education, and health within the Rochester Area Community Foundation in upstate New York, the Democrat & Chronicle reports.
It’s Not Foundation Money but Culture and Talent That Can Change the World
Studies of social change show that transformational results depend on shared values and expectations among the people doing the work.
By SARA BRENNER and Amy Celep
FedEx Announces $200 Million Giving Program
The effort will apply the company’s assets and practices to causes such as disaster relief, employment, sustainable transportation, and other areas, The Daily News of Memphis reports.
Bequests Put Conservative Billionaire Richard Scaife Atop List of America’s 50 Biggest Donors
The banking and oil heir left bequests totaling more than $750 million. A little-known theater owner came in second, with $605 million in donations. Read about the trends and some of the most interesting donors.
By Drew Lindsay and Maria Di Mento
Donor Stewardship Matters, but Momentum Can Be Magical for Big Gifts
For Northwestern, cultivating big donors was important, but momentum was magical.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
Largely forgotten in the fuss over Silicon Valley’s new wealth, New York philanthropy roars back from the recession.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
These Big Apple philanthropists demonstrate that not every fresh idea is coming from the booming tech corridors on the West Coast.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
How The Chronicle Compiled Its List of the Top 50 Donors
The Philanthropy 50 shows how much wealthy Americans contributed to charitable organizations last year.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Find out how many of the people on the Philanthropy 50 are also on the Forbes 400 and how many are Giving Pledge signers.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Big Gifts That Didn’t Make the List
The Philanthropy 50 counted contributions only to charitable groups and includes pledges but not payments on those pledges.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor