Downturn Taking Toll on Silicon Valley Giving

The economic downturn has taken a significant bite out of giving by Silicon Valley’s wealthy technology moguls, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Grants from donor-advised funds managed by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, whose clients include Yahoo’s former chief executive, Tim Koogle, and E*Trade’s co-founder, Bernie Newcomb, totaled $46.2-million in the first eight months of the year. That’s a significant decrease from 2008 ($168-million for the year) and 2007 ($117.7-million). Assets in the foundation’s funds have declined from $997.5-million at the end of 2007 to the current $721.1-million.