Gift overview in 2006

Biggest beneficiary: Skidmore College
Other key beneficiaries: Carnegie Hall; Zankel Fund; Teachers College at Columbia University; UJA-Federation of New York; Nature Conservancy; Society of Illustrators
Donor's background: Mr. Zankel was the founder of High Rise Capital Management, an investment management firm in New York.

Donations in 2006

Mr. Zankel, who committed suicide in 2005 at 73 after a decades-long battle with depression, left approximately $42-million to Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

He did not specify in his will how the college should use the money, so after Skidmore officials sought help from the Zankel family, the university announced that $15-million will be used to build a music center to be named for Mr. Zankel and approximately $13-million will go toward the endowment. Of the remaining funds, $10-million will be used for scholarships for needy students, and $3.5-million will establish a program in arts management.

Mr. Zankel had a long association with the college. He served on its Board of Trustees for 10 years, and two of his four sons graduated from the college.

Martin I. Zankel said he doesn't know how philanthropy came to be such an important part of his older brother's life, but it started during their childhood in New York.

"He was always trying to help the underdog and he felt he was very fortunate to be a brainy guy," said Martin Zankel. "He knew how to make money, and he wanted to share it." According to his brother, Arthur Zankel's generosity included putting the man who shined his shoes through college.

In addition to his Skidmore bequest, Mr. Zankel left $24-million to Carnegie Hall, in New York, where he was a trustee. The money will go toward programming and operating costs for the Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall, a performance space Mr. Zankel and his wife helped renovate with a $10-million gift in 1999.

He left directions in his will for $20-million to establish a charitable trust, and $10-million to set up a foundation, from which his family members will make yearly donations to charities of their choice. He also bequeathed $15-million to the Zankel Fund, which he and his wife established in 1969. The fund supports arts and business groups, higher education, hospitals, social-service groups, and Jewish charities, synagogues, and federations.

In addition, Mr. Zankel left $10-milion to Teachers College at Columbia University, in New York, where he was vice chairman of the college's Board of Trustees. The college plans to use the money for 50 one-year scholarships of $10,000 each for needy graduate students.

He left nearly $10-million to the UJA-Federation of New York, which will go into Mr. Zankel's donor-advised fund. One-third of the earnings will establish a depression-treatment center at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, in New York, and one-third will support Birthright Israel, which gives free 10-day trips to Israel to young Jewish American adults who have never been to that country. The remaining one-third of the earnings will go toward charitable causes that the federation supports.

Mr. Zankel also left $5-million to the Nature Conservancy, in Arlington, Va., for the group's projects in New Hampshire, and another $5-million to the Society of Illustrators, in New York. His wife, Judy, is an illustrator, and the couple has been involved with the society for many years.