Thorp and Sailor's Grave Board

Philanthropy among the rich and famous

BDx13 - 5-26-2006 at 11:22 PM

This is something that has been on my mind a lot recently. Between my increasing disdain for the likes of today's pompus, rich, young socialites and the humbling experience of having so many people contribute to my family's fund raising efforts, I began to wonder just who among the rich and famous are sharing the wealth, where its going, and how much they're donating.

Here's what I've found so far. If you know of any other info, post it up...
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Charity And The Forbes 400
David Whelan, 09.24.04, 7:00 AM ET
http://www.forbes.com/2004/09/23/cz_dw_0923philan_rl04.html

NEW YORK - In 1999, Bill Gates' net worth briefly topped the $100 billion mark. Today his wealth languishes below the $50 billion barrier. Poor guy.

But placing the blame on a dormant Microsoft (nyse: MSFT - news - people ) stock, which is still down more than 50% from its late-1999 high, provides only part of the answer to Gates' decline. The real reason Gates put in play his title to "world's richest man" is his philanthropic giving.

As his net worth marched steadily to the 12th digit, all the louder came criticisms that the then 30-something wasn't giving away enough of his fortune to charity. So over the next three years he relented, donating $23 billion in Microsoft stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Add those shares back, plus his other gifts, and Gates suddenly becomes a whole lot richer--$76.3 billion to be exact--making Warren Buffett once again a distant second.

As his net worth marched steadily to the 12th digit, all the louder came criticisms that the then 30-something wasn't giving away enough of his fortune to charity. So over the next three years he relented, donating $23 billion in Microsoft stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Add those shares back, plus his other gifts, and Gates suddenly becomes a whole lot richer--$76.3 billion to be exact--making Warren Buffett once again a distant second.

The Gates Foundation has since made a number of high-profile gifts. But many of the superrich prefer to give out of the spotlight. "Phil and Penny are intensely private people who rarely divulge their philanthropy," e-mails a Nike (nyse: NKE - news - people ) spokesman, commenting on the charitable giving of his boss, Phil Knight, and Knight's wife.

Eli Broad, who pledged $60 million last year to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is skeptical that big shots give anonymously: "I'm not aware of any large gifts that are anonymous." That doesn't prove anything about Phil Knight or any of the others who claim they give lots to charity anonymously.

One thing is clear: Ours is a charitable nation. Without the creation of wealth our system affords, there would be little of the giving that the world depends on.

Who Gives?

Name | Donated Wealth | Net Worth | Philanthropy-Adjusted | % Wealth Given Away

Bill Gates | $28,291,699,101 | $48,000,000,000 | $76,291,699,101 | 37%

Warren Buffett | $321,189,039 | $41,000,000,000 | $41,321,189,039 | 1%

Paul Allen $798,183,920 $20,000,000,000 $20,798,183,920 4%

Michael Dell $1,255,224,204 $14,200,000,000 $15,455,224,204 8%

Larry Ellison | $151,092,103 | $13,700,000,000 | $13,851,092,103 | 1%

Steve Ballmer | $23,449,783 | $12,600,000,000 | $12,623,449,783 | 0%

John Kluge | $503,869,800 | $11,000,000,000 | $11,503,869,800 | 4%

Pierre Omidyar | $357,715,858 | $10,400,000,000 | $10,757,715,858 | 3%

Sumner Redstone | $78,367,127 | $8,100,000,000 | $8,178,367,127 | 1%

Phil Knight | $64,771,782 | $7,400,000,000 | $7,464,771,782 | 1%

George Soros | $5,437,283,942 | $7,200,000,000 | $12,637,283,942 | 43%

Eli Broad | $1,613,074,469 | $6,000,000,000 | $7,613,074,469 | 21%

Michael Bloomberg | $132,045,031 | $4,900,000,000 | $5,032,045,031 | 3%

David Geffen | $182,921,433 | $4,400,000,000 | $4,582,921,433 | 4%

Gordon Moore | $6,760,929,624 | $3,800,000,000 | $10,560,929,624 | 64%

Steven Spielberg | $96,970,456 | $2,600,000,000 | $2,696,970,456 | 4%

Jon Huntsman | $497,034,993 | $2,300,000,000 | $2,797,034,993 | 18%

Bernard Marcus | $263,095,612 | $2,000,000,000 | $2,263,095,612 | 12%

Ted Turner | $798,701,861 | $1,900,000,000 | $2,698,701,861 | 30%

Alfred Mann | $607,649,613 | $1,400,000,000 | $2,007,649,613 | 30%


Where The Big Gifts Go

Arts and educational institutions collected most of the recent $100 million-plus gifts and pledges from The Forbes 400. Except for Joan Kroc's bequest to the Salvation Army, the down-and-out aren't poised to inherit the earth.

Name | Gift Or Pledge | Recipient | Year

Joan Kroc - $1.5 billion Salvation Army, 2004

Walter Annenberg - $1 billion Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002

Gordon Moore - $300 million California Institute of Technology, 2001

Ted Turner - $250 million Nuclear Threat Initiative, 2001

Thomas Monaghan - $220 million Ave Maria University, 2002

David Geffen - $200 million UCLA School of Medicine, 2002

Joan Kroc - $200 million National Public Radio, 2003

Sidney Kimmel - $150 million Johns Hopkins University, 2001

Jon Huntsman - $125 million University of Utah, 2000

Irwin Jacobs - $110 million University of California-San Diego, 2003

Irwin Jacobs - $100 million San Diego Symphony, 2002

Ruth Lilly - $100 million Poetry magazine, 2002

Paul Allen - $100 million Allen Institute for Brain Science, 2003

Alfred Mann - $100 million Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 2004


Ten Richest In History

Andrew Carnegie practiced what he preached in his "Gospel of Wealth" manifesto. But it's not clear that other billionaires of yore were more philanthropic than today's rich.

Name | Lived | Source | Wealth | Wealth As % Of GDP | Philanthropy | % Given

John D. Rockefeller | 1839-1937 | Oil | $1,400,000,000 | 1/65 | $500,000,000 | 36%

Cornelius Vanderbilt | 1794-1877 | Shipping, railroads | $105,000,000 | 1/87 | $1,000,000 | 1%

John Jacob Astor | 1763-1848 | Fur, real estate | $25,000,000 | 1/107 | $0 | 0%

Stephen Girard | 1750-1831 | Banking | $7,500,000 | 1/150 | $6,000,000 | 80%

Andrew Carnegie | 1835-1919 | Steel | $475,000,000 | 1/166 | $475,000,000 | 100%

Alexander T. Stewart | 1803-1876 | Merchant | $80,000,000 | 1/178 | $100,000 | 0%

Frederick Weyerhaeuser | 1834-1914 | Lumber | $200,000,000 | 1/182 | $0 | 0%

Jay Gould | 1836-1892 | Investing | $75,000,000 | 1/185 | $2,000,000 | 3%

Stephen Van Rensselaer | 1764-1839 | Inherited land | $10,000,000 | 1/194 | $2,000,000 | 20%

Marshall Field | 1834-1906 | Real estate, retail | $140,000,000 | 1/205 | $12,000,000 | 9%

BDx13 - 5-26-2006 at 11:25 PM

Generous Celebs
Mmoma Ejiofor 05.05.06, 12:30 AM ET
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/2006/05/04/celebrity_charity...

Behind every modern-day celebrity is a roster of important relationships. Each star needs to be connected with an agent, a manager, a personal trainer, a full-time assistant and a significant other, be it a celeb-level husband/wife or a girlfriend/boyfriend.

Then there is the crucial affiliation with a charity.

For your average citizen, charities offer a way to give back to society, feel connected to a common cause and even do some socializing--or, in some cases, social-climbing. For celebrities, philanthropy offers all of the above, plus the potential for major image and career enhancement.

See our list of ten generous celebs and the causes they support.

There are, of course, good intentions behind celebrities' relationships with philanthropic causes. And being able to throw your star-studded weight behind a cause you believe in must be gratifying. But it certainly doesn't hurt to have the public think of you not just as a beautiful person but as a nice one, too.

"The obvious benefit is the feel-good aspect of helping others," says Paula Greenfield, vice president of The Celebrity Source, a Los Angeles-based agency that links celebrities to charitable causes. "And, of course, they benefit from a public-relations standpoint. The more good they do, the more the public loves them."

Celebrities aren't the only ones feeling the love. The best thing about celebrity-charity relationships--aside from the lack of prenuptial agreements--is that they are mutually beneficial liaisons.

Nahela Hadi, executive director of the United Nations-affiliated organization Adopt-a-Minefield, which boasts Paul McCartney as a major supporter, describes a "ripple effect" from celebrity involvement with a charity.

"When people come to charity events and they see a celebrity, they want to know why the celebrity is there," she says. "They become interested and want to learn more about the charity and support the cause."

And that can have a serious affect on donor figures. After Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 1995, he became connected to the American Paralysis Association, which over the next three years saw its revenue double to $5 million, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In fact, the charity is now known as the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

"Celebrities get involved with charities because either they or a loved one has suffered from the same illness that the charity supports or because their friends and colleagues currently support or have supported that charity in the past," observes Adlai Wertman, a former investment banker who is now chief executive of Chrysalis, a Los-Angeles based charity that helps the homeless.

Angelina Jolie, whose work as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency is well known, has generated plenty of attention for the plight of refugees around the world. And over the past few years, she has made more than $3 million in her own contributions to the organization, it says.

So how exactly does a charity go about finding the perfect celebrity match?

One option is for the charity to be coy and wait for a celebrity to approach them. But more often than not, charity directors use their personal connections to contact a celebrity. One thing leads to another and, if all goes well, a beautiful relationship blossoms.

Operation Smile, which provides corrective surgery to poor children with facial deformities, reached pop star Jessica Simpson through her celebrity hairdresser, Ken Paves. While working on Simpson's hair, Paves took the opportunity to show her an Operation Smile video, and after months of quiet courting, Simpson became Operation Smile's international youth ambassador. According the organization, she has generated $4 million in television news coverage alone.

For local charities, personal connections can be especially important.

"Hollywood doesn't 'do' local charities," Wertman observes. "They care about getting national attention. So it's very hard to get big names to support smaller charities since there's not as much publicity involved."

Chrysalis has been the exception to the rule. Last year, the organization received $1.2 million from Hollywood donors, and that figures is expected to increase by 10% to 15% per year.

It was an invitation to a fundraiser that sparked the relationship between Chrysalis and Brett Ratner, the director of Rush Hour. Through Ratner, the organization connected with various celebrities, including Salma Hayek, Ice Cube and Nicholas Cage. Action star Jackie Chan gave $100,000 to the charity, the largest single donation Chrysalis has ever received.

But sometimes it takes a major crisis--personal or public--to get prominent figures and A-listers to dip into their wallets. After the tsunami in 2004, NBC aired Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope, a charity program littered with celebrity performances that raised over $18.3 million in a single night. Celebs from up and down the lists opened their hearts and wallets for the cause.

Billionaire entertainer Oprah Winfrey, who is so generous with her earnings that she has set up two nonprofit organizations and last year alone donated more than $50 million, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, gave $11 million to help rebuild areas decimated by Hurricane Katrina. Of that, $10 million was in the form of a personal check, while her foundation kindly left a tip of $1 million to provide food for hurricane victims.

Now that's what we call giving back.

BDx13 - 5-26-2006 at 11:27 PM

Bono
Charity: Debt AIDS Trade Africa (DATA)

U2's frontman has campaigned so widely and vehemently against the spread of AIDS and for debt relief in Africa that in February he was among the 191 nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. But his philanthropic efforts don't start or end with DATA, the organization he co-founded in 2002. He has participated in fundraising concerts including Live 8, Live Aid and Band Aid 20. In 2003, U2 donated ?40,000 to One in Four Ireland, a charity that helps survivors of sexual abuse.



Sandra Bullock
Charity: American Red Cross

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bullock donated $1 million to the American Red Cross. After the tsunami of December 2004, she gave another $1 million to the relief effort.



Nicholas Cage
Charity: Chrysalis

Cage donated $1 million to the New Orleans relief effort after Hurricane Katrina decimated the city last year. He has also lent his support to Chrysalis, a Los Angeles-based charity for the homeless.



Jackie Chan
Charity: The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation

Chan was taken in by the Red Cross as a child after arriving in the U.S. from China. In 1998, he established his own foundation to help youth in Hong Kong, and in December 2004, he donated $64,000 to UNICEF to help tsunami victims in South Asia. He also recently donated $100,000 to Chrysalis, a Los Angeles-based charity that helps the homeless.



Celine Dion
Charity: Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Dion has a personal connection to the cause she began supporting in 1982; her own niece died of cystic fibrosis at the age of 16. The singer is now the foundation's Celebrity Patron and has raised money as well as donated fees from various concerts and appearances. After Hurricane Katrina, Dion gave $1 million to the American Red Cross' disaster relief fund. Proceeds from selected performances of her Las Vegas show have also gone to charitable causes.



Angelina Jolie
Charity: UNHCR-The United Nations Refugee Agency

The Academy Award-winning actress was selected to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2001 and has since traveled around the world advocating refugee rights. According to the agency, her contributions to the cause total more than $3 million.



Paul McCartney
Charity: Adopt-A-Minefield

In January 2005, Paul and Heather McCartney donated $1.9 million to tsunami relief efforts. But the pair have another pet cause; the former Beatle was introduced to the Adopt-A-Minefield charity by his wife, who lost part of a leg in a car accident in 1993. McCartney made the original red "No More Land mines" T-shirt famous when he wore it on stage during his 2004 world tour.



Arnold Schwarzenegger
Charity: Special Olympics, After-School All-Stars

The former bodybuilder has supported a range of causes over the years. For more than two decades, he has been involved in Special Olympics, founded by his mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. In 2001, Schwarzenegger's charitable donations amounted to $4.1 million, which was divided among the Twin Towers fund, his after-school program, After-School All-Stars, and Nelson Mandela's children's fund, among others.



Steven Spielberg
Charity: Righteous Persons Foundation, Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation

The blockbuster filmmaker established the Righteous Persons Foundation to give away part of his profits from the movie Schindler's List, and beneficiaries have included Jewish causes around the world. In the wake of the film, Spielberg also created the Shoah Foundation (now part of the University of Southern California) to document the experiences of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. His philanthropy doesn't stop there: Spielberg donated $1.5 million to help with Hurricane Katrina recovery, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and gave $1.5 million to tsunami relief efforts.



Oprah Winfrey
Charity: The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, Oprah's Angel Network

The beloved talk-show host is generous with her cash: According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, she gave nearly $52 million to charity in 2005 alone. That included $36 million to the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, which supports programs for women and children, and $3.5 million to Oprah's Angel Network, which she founded in 1998 to encourage fans and celebrities to give to charitable causes. She also donated $10 million to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

BDx13 - 5-26-2006 at 11:36 PM

Gifts for star-struck friends
By Amy C. Fleitas ? Bankrate.com
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20021115a.asp

So your sister says all she wants for Christmas is Nick Carter in a big, red bow. Unfortunately for her, he's not for sale. But you can get a piece of him online -- and help a good cause at the same time.

Whether you want to get something tangible for your money or just make a donation in someone's name, why not follow in a favorite star's footsteps? Here's how some stars are helping and how you can do the same.

Buy a bit of fame
Ebay Charity Fundraising has several ongoing auctions benefiting charity -- many featuring celebrity items.

Recently on the auction block were framed handprints by Nick Carter, Hillary Duff, Andrew Firestone, Trista Sutter, Kwame Jackson, Venus Williams and Randy Jackson, who joined with other celebrities to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Many of the items auctioned in the past have intrinsic value -- other than being autographed by someone famous -- like Jon Bon Jovi's autographed Stratocaster guitar and LeAnn Rimes' personal velvet dress.

- advertisement -

Celebrity auction items move quickly on and off the block with new items added regularly. If you don't see anything from a particular celebrity or cause, keep checking.

Small gifts, big support
If you don't have the cash to back the hefty price of some celebrity auctions, make a buy at their favorite charity. Most offer more than just a coffee mug.

Jimmy Buffett's Save the Manatee Club offers manatee socks for $3.95. Paul Newman sells Newman's Own salsa, steak sauce, and salad dressing to benefit various charities, including affordable housing, elderly groups and hunger relief. Harrison Ford fans can buy coffee to benefit Conservation International -- where Ford is a vice chair. Lucille Ball memorabilia at Lucy Library benefits the Pediatric AIDS foundation. A favorite of Sigourney Weaver, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, sells hand-sewn wall hangings and other crafts made in Rwanda.

Star-created charities
Some celebrities, such as Paul Newman and Oprah Winfrey, go one step further when giving back to the less fortunate: They launch their very own charities to raise funds for causes dear to their hearts.

Rather than buy a piece of memorabilia for a friend, help them mimic their favorite star's actions by donating to the star's charities.

When Princess Diana walked through a land mine-infested field, the footage was broadcast worldwide, bringing public awareness to land mine victims and forcing governments to explain, if not change, their positions on land mine use. Since her death, the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund continues to support those suffering from AIDS, leprosy and land mines.

Oprah Winfrey, one of America's favorite talk-show hosts, created Oprah's Angel Network to encourage her fans to reach out to those in need. One hundred percent of the donations go directly to the various charities she supports.

If you're shopping for an NFL fan, you might want to contribute to the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation. This foundation gives financial and motivational support to at-risk children. Their biggest event of the year, Annual Holiday Spectacular, gives Christmas presents to the abused and neglected children of Illinois.

Another sports star, NASCAR's Kyle Petty, co-founded The Victory Junction Gang Camp with his wife and Paul Newman to give seriously ill children the opportunity to go camping.

Do you know a baseball fan? You can share the love of America's game with at-risk kids by donating to the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. And for the tennis fan, check out the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation which provides recreation and education for at-risk children.

Country music fans will appreciate a donation to support literacy through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Dolly's charity makes sure that every child in participating communities receives a new hardcover book each month from birth to age 5. Garth Brook's Teammates for Kids Foundation provides financial assistance to children's charities.

For urban music fans, Barenaked Ladies, Harry Connick Jr., Garbage, Kid Rock, Metallica and Santana all support RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization.

Hollywood favorites
If you can't find a charity supported by a particular celebrity, check out one of the star-studded favorites, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the Make a Wish Foundation.

P.E.T.A. is an animal rights foundation whose most notable celebrity supporters are actress Pamela Anderson and Pearl Jam's lead vocalist Eddie Vedder.

The Pediatric AIDS Foundation funds research of diseases affecting children and is supported by virtually all of Hollywood through its many fundraisers attended by actors from Angela Bassett and Tom Cruise to Natalie Portman and David Duchovny.

AmFAR supports AIDS research and prevention. It is also supported by many celebrities including Sharon Stone, Rosie O'Donnell, Bruce Willis, Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Seinfeld and Prince Albert of Monaco.

The Make a Wish Foundation is now famous itself with heart-wrenching stories of sick children's wishes. Many stars have supported Make a Wish, either by a one-time handshake or continual volunteer work and donations. Country star Vince Gill, professional wrestler The Rock, Food TV's Iron Chef Morimoto, music group O-Town, singer Nick Lachey of the band 98 Degrees and NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon are consistent supporters of Make A Wish.

Another star favorite is the charity started by Superman. The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation,funds research for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders. The Foundation also works to improve the quality of life for people living with disabilities.

A membership, event ticket or donation to any of these charities would make an excellent gift for any star's fan. And though it may not be as exciting as receiving a gift-wrapped Keifer Sutherland, a donation to charity would do the world a lot more good than a hardback copy of another exclusive, unauthorized biography.