Amoung America's Mega-donors, Many Jews, But Few Gifts To Jews

http://www.jta.org/ ^ | 02-23-04 | Joe Berkofsky

[mercy]

FOCUS ON ISSUES Among America's mega- donors, many Jews, but few gifts to Jews By Joe Berkofsky

NEW YORK, Feb. 23 (JTA) -- Robert Meyerhoff, a Maryland real-estate developer, and his wife, Jane, promised last year to bequeath their $300 million collection of more than 100 modern art works to Washington's National Gallery of Art.

Irwin Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of the San Diego wireless company Qualcomm, and his wife, Joan, pledged $110 million to the University of California-San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering, which bears their name.

These Jewish couples were among dozens of philanthropists such as McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc who gave the most generous donations to charities in 2003, according to a new Chronicle of Philanthropy report.

They also signal the continuation of a longtime trend, where the biggest "mega-gifts" from Jews go to non-Jewish causes.

"This is the pattern of Jewish mega-giving," said Gary Tobin, president of the Institute of Jewish & Community Research, in San Francisco.

"For the most part, the largest gifts that Jewish philanthropists make go to higher education, health-related causes, and arts and culture -- that's it."

Last spring, Tobin unveiled a study tracking 188 mega-gifts of $10 million or more by the nation's 123 wealthiest Jews between 1995 and 2000; he plans to release a follow-up study in September.

Tobin's initial study found that out of a total of $5.3 billion in philanthropy by Jews, only $318 million -- 6 percent -- went to Jewish institutions.

The latest Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of mega-donors, which was conducted jointly with the online magazine Slate, showed that 14 of the 36 top givers in 2003 -- those giving or pledging donations of $25 million or more -- were Jews.

None of their big donations targeted strictly Jewish causes.

Among other top Jewish philanthropists who gave substantial support to non-Jewish causes, including many of their own charitable foundations, were:

Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Computers, and his wife, Susan, who gave $673 million in Dell stock to the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation in Austin, Texas, which supports child-development programs;

Eli Broad, chairman of American International Group Retirement Services of New York, and his wife, Edythe, who gave $409 million to the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation in Los Angeles, which supports medical research, their Broad Foundation, which improves public schools, and the Broad Art Foundation; and

Jeffrey Skoll, former president of the online auction site eBay, who gave $81.3 million in eBay stock to the Skoll Foundation, which supports social entrepreneurship.

Other prominent Jews on the multimillion-dollar donor list included Atlantan Arthur Blank, co-founder of the Home Depot store chain; Lawrence Ellison, chief executive of the Oracle software corporation; New Jersey author and publisher Herbert Axelrod and his wife, Evelyn; Pennsylvania real-estate developer Zell Kravinsky and his wife, Emily; Citigroup Chairman Sanford Weill and his wife, Joan; and San Francisco venture capitalist Arthur Rock.

The Meyerhoff and Jacobs families were among those the Chronicle of Philanthropy said did not actually donate but pledged at least $25 million in 2003. Other Jews on that pledge list included Morris Silverman, founder of National Equipment Rental, and Bert Wolstein, an Ohio developer, and his wife, Iris.

According to the joint analysis by the Chronicle and Slate, big giving rebounded last year along with the economy, amounting to $5.9 billion, up from $4.6 billion the previous year.

Much of the money went to the philanthropists' own nonprofit foundations, which in turn grant funds to scores of causes, including the arts, education and medicine.

Topping all giving and pledges was the late Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc, who left $1.91 billion to 10 organizations, including $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army and $200 million to National Public Radio.

With big giving continuing to elude both Jewish and non-Jewish religious causes, Tobin suggested it was not because all Jewish philanthropists do not care about Jewish causes.

In fact, many of the mega-donors, such as Broad and Dell, support their local Jewish federations or other Jewish causes.

Meanwhile, other longtime Jewish mega-donors did not make the list, either because the Chronicle of Philanthropy was not able to collect details about their giving, or because the lists only included new gifts made in 2003 rather than ongoing grant-making by philanthropic foundations.

Many major givers to Jewish causes include the Bronfman family foundations; the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the Koret Foundation, Michael and Judy Steinhardt's Jewish Life Network, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the Wexner Foundation.

But Tobin said Jewish institutions and the federation system remains ill-equipped structurally to receive the kind of big gifts academic or cultural institutions receive.

"The way we think about raising money in this community needs serious re-examination," Tobin said.

Mark Charendoff, president of the Jewish Funders Network, an organization that helps Jewish foundations develop more effective philanthropy strategies, agreed with Tobin.

But Charendoff said the onus remains on Jewish institutions to turn the mega-gift tide.

"There has to be a lesson here for the Jewish community," Charendoff said of the Chronicle of Philanthropy-Slate study.

He said that Jews should examine how an organization like the Salvation Army, to which Joan Kroc gave $1.5 billion, and "which would not make it on anyone's short list of the most cutting-edge, innovative philanthropic destinations in America, captivated this woman's imagination so that she would give this sum."

"What vision are we trying to sell?" Charendoff said.

[mercy]

I waited many years to finally make it to Israel. This past November I spent three weeks there. I found a broken nation frozen by political deadlock. To my eyes Israel is a declining nation, and going down fast. If American Jews don't get off their fat duffs it will soon be too late. Maybe it already is.

[Dog Gone]

Jews should only give to Jewish institutions? What kind of garbage is this?

If everyone followed that example, most institutions would get no funding at all.

[mercy]

I don't think it's saying that. Rather it decries the fact that the majority of Jewish money goes to non Jewish institutions. When was the last time you heard of anybody giving $1b to Israel besides the American taxpayer?

[Dog Gone]

I think it was saying that. This wasn't an article decrying the fact that American Jews aren't sending foreign aid to Israel. It was complaining about Jewish gifts to respected charities like the Salvation Army.

I certainly wouldn't complain if American Jews lifted my tax burden by sending a couple billion dollars to the Israeli government each year, but this article was saying that Jewish charitable contributions should be sent to Jewish agencies here in America.

[AMDG&BVMH]

"how an organization like the Salvation Army, to which Joan Kroc gave $1.5 billion, and "which would not make it on anyone's short list of the most cutting-edge, innovative philanthropic destinations in America, captivated this woman's imagination so that she would give this sum." "

I can see how. The Salvation Army is not "cutting-edge" it merely helps people. And it expects them to follow basic rules of human conduct while being helped. I was impressed when I heard of this donation. I include the Salvation Army among the groups I will support.

[freekitty]

A $300 million dollar art collection is obscene.

[Freakazoid]

A $300 million dollar art collection is obscene.

Particularly since it's a modern art collection. Much of "modern art" is rubbish.

[mercy]

Maybe that's why they gave it away. ;0

Wish somebody would give me a bunch of famous art. I'd trade it for realestate.

[nopardons]

Why?

[xp38]

This is the first I have heard about the $1.5 billion gift to the Salvation Army. There was a thread lambasting Joan Kroc for her $200 million gift to NPR a while ago. McDonalds boycotts etc. were the norm. I can't recall now if I did any of the lambasting at the time but I am glad to hear of this.

[OneTimeLurker]

It's their money. And, it's worth $300 Million because that's what somebody else is willing to pay.

[AMDG&BVMH]

"McDonalds boycotts etc. were the norm."

Me, too, for the longest time. I was surprised to hear of her donation to the SA.

[SunkenCiv]

I don' think that philanthropy will help much. Several things need to happen for Israel to pass this crisis.

Number one, the Fence needs to be finished. I'd prefer the Begin idea, which was annexation of the so-called West Bank. When Jordan ruled it (managed to hang on to it during the 1948 war) there was no talk about making it an independent Arab state. But that is now off the table. Had Israel not prevailed in the 1973 war, it wouldn't have survived at all, but having won, it wound up with a peace treaty with Egypt, and no further threat of invasion by its neighbors. Instead, the terrorist organizations have been stepping up their campaigns ever since, and the 1993 Oslo "Accord" brought the terrorist organizations onto Israeli soil, recognized as if they were legitimate governments.

Number two, Syria is going to collapse soon. The country has compulsory service in the armed forces by everyone when they reach 18, and a significant percentage of young Syrians hop a plane to the Gulf States where they can get well-paid jobs and not worry about getting blown up in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, or Turkey. Syria has no economic strength, apart from money sent from Syrians working in the Gulf, in the United States, and elsewhere. The collapse will begin with the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. It's worth noting that the Arab world approves of Syria's de facto annexation of Lebanon and illegal occupation of it, while rejecting Israel's existence which is recognized by the UN.

Number three, the US needs to strengthen relations with Turkey, but not at the expense of Turkish relations with Israel. Israel is a source for more advanced US weapons systems than Turkey can acquire directly, due to the large anti-Turkish ethnic Greek community in the US. There are few ethnically Turkish voters in the US. The way to strengthen the relations is to bankroll and otherwise assist in the construction of the submerged (anchored to the sea floor) freshwater pipeline from SE Turkey to Cyprus, with the proviso that it be extended to Israel and Gaza. Syria has illegally (of course -- it's a rogue state) cut off significant portions of the water supplies of Israel and Jordan. Israel is obligated under its 1994 treaty with Jordan to make up water supply shortfalls, and often can't comply. Also, a reliable water supply for Gaza would attract settlement, and Arabs would move to Gaza, where they could make an independent state that would not be landlocked. Egypt already shares natural gas from a recently developed offshore field.

[Betaille]

Don't be mad at the millionaires... Money that is not put to a good cause will soon be gone. Spend it on a 300 million dollar art collection and your soul will be poorer than before. Spend it to help those around you and your community and it will make you far wealthier than you can imagine.

[stilts]

The author is not familiar with Joan Kroc's gift. She was the one who provided the vision for the specific program she funded. They came for a much smaller donation but she had a much bigger vision of how to help.

[stilts]

As a Jew growing up my Rabbi taught us the concept of being the "Chosen People". He said it spoke to our responsibility to work to help make the world around us better. It wasn't that we should exclusively help the Jews, it was that we should help the world. I suppose this is why it is not surprising to me to read that Jews give to non-Jewish charities. It is almost an imperative.

I grew up in an affluent Jewish community and there was a greater need to help with causes in other communities then with our own.