| Donor
| Donor State
| Recipient
| Recipient State
| Category
| Gift Amount
|
Helen R. Walton
Family wealth, Retail |
Arkansas |
Walton Family Foundation (Bentonville, Ark.) |
Arkansas |
Foundations |
$16.4-billion 
Bequest
Estimate |
The death in April 2007 of Helen R. Walton, the widow of Sam M. Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart Stores, could mean that billions of dollars from her estate will soon flow into the family's foundation, potentially making it one of the wealthiest grant makers in the United States.
Forbes magazine recently ranked Ms. Walton the 29th-richest person in the world with a net worth of $16.4-billion, and she has been widely expected to pass a large amount of her estate to the Walton Family Foundation, in Bentonville, Ark.
If most of her money went there, the foundation would probably be bigger than the Ford Foundation, which has $12.2-billion in assets. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with $33-billion in assets, would be the only American grant maker that is larger. |
Leona M. Helmsley
Family wealth, Hotels |
New York |
Leona and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (New York) |
New York |
Foundations |
$5.2-billion
Bequest
Estimate |
Ms. Helmsley, head of the Helmsley Hotel Chain, died in August of 2007 of heart failure. Her estate is estimated to be worth between $4-billion and $8-billion.
Through her will, she directed that all of her assets, including cash from the sale of her homes and other property, be given to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Ms. Helmsley created the trust in 1999, according to the will. |
Barron Hilton
Family wealth, Hotels |
California |
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (Reno, Nev.) |
Nevada |
Foundations |
$1.2-billion |
The hotel mogul Barron Hilton has pledged $1.2-billion to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, in Reno, Nev. This will push up the total value of the foundation to approximately $4.5-billion, making it one of the 15 wealthiest grant makers in the United States.
Mr. Hilton, 80, recently told the foundation's board members that he intends to leave 97 percent of his entire net worth --- estimated by the foundation to be about $2.3-billion --- to the philanthropy when he dies. His father, Conrad, created the foundation in 1944 and left his entire estate to the fund when he died in 1979.
The Hilton foundation finances a range of activities, including efforts to prevent and treat blindness worldwide, improve water and sanitation systems in developing countries, curb drug abuse among young people, provide early childhood education to disabled children, and help homeless Americans find housing. |
Jon M. Huntsman Sr. and Karen Huntsman
Chemicals, Manufacturing |
Utah |
Huntsman Foundation (Salt Lake City) |
Utah |
Foundations |
$700-million
Estimate |
Jon M. Huntsman Sr., a Utah businessman, and his wife, Karen, have endowed their foundation with nearly $700-million, and say they plan to add as much as $700-million more within the next 10 years.
Mr. Huntsman said his foundation will no longer simply serve as a conduit for the couple's yearly giving, but will be permanently endowed and will begin accepting grant proposals. The fund will focus on those causes the Huntsmans have long supported in their philanthropy: cancer research and treatment, domestic violence, education, and homelessness. |
John W. Kluge
Media and entertainment |
New York |
Columbia U. (New York) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$400-million
Bequest |
The media magnate John W. Kluge has promised to provide $400-million to Columbia University when he dies, the largest gift a living donor has pledged to an American college or university, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Mr. Kluge, a 92-year-old self-made billionaire who attended the university on a scholarship, earmarked the money to support financial aid for students.
A German immigrant who graduated from Columbia in 1937 with a bachelor's degree in economics, Mr. Kluge founded and serves as chairman of Metromedia, which has invested in entertainment companies.
Half of the gift will support and expand financial aid for undergraduates at Columbia College, and the remaining $200-million will go to scholarships and fellowships in other schools and institutions at the university. |
T. Denny Sanford
Finance |
South Dakota |
Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health System (Sioux Falls, S.D.) |
South Dakota |
Health |
$400-million |
The Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health System was renamed Sanford Health following a $400-million gift from T. Denny Sanford, who made his fortune through a credit-card company based in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The gift will help open a chain of pediatric clinics. The Sanford Project, a research effort, would attempt to solve "one of the pressing medical issues of our day."
The system will spend $30-million to $50-million, of investment returns, over 10 years to open at least five pediatric clinics in the United States, and perhaps one each in Canada and Mexico. Sanford Health will spend $50-million over the next decade to build up its joint research operation with the medical school of the University of South Dakota, and an additional $30-million on the Sanford Project. |
Sanford I. Weill Jr. and Joan Weill
Finance |
New York |
Weill Medical College of Cornell U. (New York) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$250-million |
Sanford I. Weill, chairman emeritus of Citigroup, and his wife, Joan, have announced that they are providing $250-million to Cornell University's medical school in New York City. Mr. Weill is an alumnus of Cornell and chairs the board of the medical school.
The Weills have previously given $215-million to the medical school, which in 1998 changed its name to the Weill Medical College in honor of their gifts. |
Robert Day
Finance |
California |
Claremont McKenna College (Calif.) |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$200-million |
Robert Day, a California financier, is giving $200-million to his alma mater, Claremont McKenna College, a liberal-arts institution in Claremont, Calif., to pay for a new master's-degree program for economics and finance. Mr. Day helped the college design the program. In addition, the college plans to upgrade undergraduate programs in those fields and finance new scholarships.
The gift will be used to create an alternative to the traditional master of business administration program. Mr. Day graduated from the college in 1965 and has served on its Board of Trustees since 1970. |
Brooke Russell Astor
Family wealth |
New York |
New York Public Library and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) |
New York |
Museums and libraries |
$190-million
Bequest
Estimate |
Brooke Astor, the philanthropist and New York socialite who gave away nearly $195-million over her lifetime, died of pneumonia in August 2007. She was 105.
Several nonprofit causes will probably benefit from her estate, but which ones will get how much is not yet clear and her bequests are likely to be snared in court battles.
Her personal fortune was said to be approximately $130-million at her death, and a trust left to Mrs. Astor by her late husband, Vincent Astor, was worth more than $60-million.
The New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York, are named as major beneficiaries in Mrs. Astor's will. A representative for Mrs. Astor's estate could not be reached for comment. |
Eli and Edythe L. Broad
Finance, Real estate |
California |
Broad Foundations (Los Angeles) |
California |
Foundations |
$176-million |
| Eli Broad, founding chairman of the KB Home Corporation and SunAmerica, a financial-services company in Los Angeles, and his wife, Edythe, have pledged $176-milllion to the Broad Foundations, in Los Angeles. |
John P. and Tashia F. Morgridge
Technology |
California |
Fund for Wisconsin Scholars (Madison) |
Wisconsin |
Colleges and universities |
$175-million |
John P. and Tashia F. Morgridge have donated $175-million to establish the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars, in Madison, to provide tuition grants to needy graduates of Wisconsin public schools who attend public colleges and universities. In the 2008-9 school year, approximately 2,000 students will receive grants of $1,000 to $5,000 each; in the future, more than 3,000 students will receive grants annually.
Ms. Morgridge is a retired elementary-school special-education teacher, and Mr. Morgridge is chairman emeritus of Cisco Systems, a San Jose, Calif., company that designs and sells networking and communications technology and services. |
anonymous
|
N/A |
U. of California at San Francisco |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$150-million |
An anonymous donor has pledged to give the University of California at San Francisco $150-million for clinical and research programs at the university's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The anonymous pledge to the San Francisco institution will be used to develop new cancer treatment drugs and clinical trials for patients, to establish a database to track cancer patients' responses to therapy and their recovery, and to support other cancer-center programs. |
Barbara Dodd Anderson
Family wealth, Investments |
California |
George School (Newtown, Pa.) |
Pennsylvania |
Education |
$128.5-million |
The George School, a Quaker boarding and day school in Newtown, Pa., has received a $128.5-million pledge from Barbara Dodd Anderson, a 1950 alumna whose fortune comes from stock in Berkshire Hathaway, the insurance and investment company founded by Warren E. Buffett. The money will be paid out over the next 20 years.
Beginning September 30, 2007, the school will receive $5-million a year through a trust for 15 years, and then $10.7-million annually for the last five years.
Working closely with school officials, Ms. Anderson decided that $2-million of the annual $5-million payment will endow salaries for the school's faculty and staff members, and $2-million will endow financial aid for needy students. Of the remaining $1-million, $900,000 will go for campus projects that promote environmental sustainability, and $100,000 will go into the school's annual fund. |
Warren Alpert
Marketing, Oil |
New York |
Warren Alpert Foundation (Providence, R.I.) |
Rhode Island |
Foundations |
$100-million
Estimate |
Brown University has received a $100-million grant for its medical school from the Warren Alpert Foundation, in Providence, R.I.
The university, also in Providence, plans to rename the medical school in honor of Mr. Alpert.
The money, which will be paid within the next 10 years, will go toward a new building to house classrooms and offices, and will also support biomedical research, endowed professorships and scholarships, and faculty recruitment. |
anonymous
|
N/A |
U. of Chicago |
Illinois |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
An anonymous donor has pledged to give the University of Chicago $100-million for financial aid for undergraduate students.
The donation will be used to establish a scholarship endowment to reduce or completely eliminate the need for undergraduate students from low- and moderate-income families to take out loans to finance their education. The anonymous donor graduated from the university in the 1980s but officials there won't reveal any details about him.
University officials approached the donor about making a gift for financial aid, said Ronald J. Schiller, the university's vice president of development and alumni relations. The donor told officials that he wanted to do something that would replace loans with grant money for every low-income undergraduate student there, but neither the officials nor the donor had a dollar figure in mind. |
anonymous
|
N/A |
Washington and Lee U. (Lexington, Va.) |
Virginia |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
An anonymous donor has pledged to give Washington and Lee University $100-million for an endowment supporting scholarships and other programs.
A significant portion of the gift --- $85-million --- will go toward student scholarships. The rest of the money donated to the Lexington, Va., institution will be used to create two professorships and pay for other efforts, such as providing aid to students who pursue summer internships before their senior year. |
anonymous
|
N/A |
Erie Community Foundation (Pa.) |
Pennsylvania |
Community foundations |
$100-million |
The Erie Community Foundation, in Pennsylvania, has received an anonymous pledge of $100-million. The donor asked that $85-million support unrestricted gifts to local charities and $15-million be given to groups nationwide.
The donor --- who lives in the city --- did not put any strings on his Erie gift, but he strongly prefers that the local charities use their money to create endowments at the Erie Community Foundation.
The local organizations are mostly small human-service groups, including housing and health-service providers, food banks, women's shelters, religious organizations, and children's groups. The Erie Community Foundation and the United Way of Erie County will each receive $11-million.
The other grants will be between $1-million and $2-million apiece, distributed over a three-year period that will probably start in 2009.
The community foundation's gift is unrestricted. The donor directed the United Way's gift to its endowment. |
Frank Batten Sr.
Media and entertainment |
Virginia |
U. of Virginia Law School (Charlottesville) |
Virginia |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
The University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, has received $100-million from Frank Batten Sr., founder of Landmark Communications, to create the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Mr. Batten, 79, is a 1950 graduate of the institution.
Mr. Batten's donation will be used to create a school designed to work together with the university's law, medicine, and history programs, the institution said.
Landmark Communications, based in Norfolk, Va., owns the Weather Channel and several other news channels and newspapers. Forbes magazine listed Mr. Batten's fortune in 2006 at $1.4-billion. |
Robert A. and Renee E. Belfer
Energy, Oil |
New York |
Weill Medical College of Cornell U. (New York) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
| Robert Belfer, a former Enron executive, and his wife, Renee, have pledged $100-million to Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, in New York. The money will be used to establish a new medical research building which will be named for the couple. The building will be completed in 2014. |
Philip H. and Penelope Knight
Manufacturing |
Oregon |
U. of Oregon (Eugene) |
Oregon |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
Philip H. Knight, the chairman and a co-founder of the Nike sportswear company, and his wife, Penelope, plan to give the University of Oregon, in Eugene, $100-million to establish a fund to support all of the university's athletic programs and operations.
The new fund will be unlike a traditional endowment, according to a university spokesman; the university's athletics department will be able to use both the principal and the interest in what is to be called the Oregon Athletics Legacy Fund. |
David H. Koch
Oil |
New York |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge) |
Massachusetts |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has received a $100-million pledge from David H. Koch, an executive vice president at Koch Industries and an alumnus of the university, to build a new cancer-research center.
Mr. Koch's gift to MIT is a response in part to his personal battle with prostate cancer. Mr. Koch, who is in remission from the disease, provided the money for a center that will employ a mix of molecular geneticists, cell biologists, and engineers that the university says is rare in cancer research.
The donor received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering at the Cambridge, Mass., institution, and has served on its Board of Trustees since 1988. |
Peter H. and Paula Lunder
Manufacturing, Retail |
Maine |
Colby College Museum of Art (Waterville, Me.) |
Maine |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million
Estimate |
Peter H. Lunder, a retired businessman, and his wife, Paula, have pledged to give Colby College Museum of Art, in Waterville, Maine, an extensive collection of art valued at more than $100-million. The gift includes works by Mary Cassatt, Edward Hopper, Sol LeWitt, John Singer Sargent, and other prominent artists.
The collection of about 500 paintings and sculptures also includes 40 ancient Chinese sculptures and 201 prints by James McNeill Whistler, which museum officals say is the largest single collection of Whistlers to be given to an American academic museum.
Along with the art collection, the Lunders are giving the Colby museum an additional gift of cash that will go toward the care and management of the collection, said William D. Adams, president of Colby.
Mr. Lunder graduated from Colby in 1956. |
Ann Lurie
Investments, Real estate |
Illinois |
Children's Memorial Hospital (Chicago) |
Illinois |
Health |
$100-million |
Ann Lurie, president of Lurie Investments, in Chicago, and a former pediatric nurse, has pledged $100-million to Children's Memorial Hospital.
Her gift will help build a new facility in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood and will support pediatric-health research. The new hospital, which will be named for Ms. Lurie and her late husband, Robert, is expected to cost $850-million. Construction will begin in the spring, and the facility is scheduled to open in 2012. |
Robert C. and Jeanette Powell
Real estate |
California |
U. of the Pacific (Stockton, Calif.) |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
Robert C. Powell, a real-estate developer in Gold River, Calif., and his wife, Jeannette, an interior designer, announced in May 2007 that they plan to leave the University of the Pacific, in Stockton, Calif., a $100-million bequest to establish an endowment. Mr. Powell died on November 4, 2007, at age 76.
Mr. and Ms. Powell worked with university officials to determine what specific programs the endowment, which will be named for the couple, will support, but a portion of it is likely to go toward scholarships. |
Thomas M. Siebel
Technology |
California |
U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Illinois |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
Thomas M. Siebel, chairman of First Virtual Group, a holding company in Palo Alto, Calif., has pledged to give the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign $100-million to endow science and engineering research, graduate fellowships, and professorships.
Mr. Siebel serves on the board of the University of Illinois's foundation. He founded Siebel Systems, a software company in San Mateo, Calif., that merged with the Oracle Corporation in 2006.
Although the university will receive some of the pledged money as a bequest, Mr. Siebel plans to begin paying some of it during his lifetime. A portion of the money may also be used to build a research and academic facility as the programs Mr. Siebel is supporting develop.
Mr. Siebel earned an undergraduate degree from the university as well as a master's degree in business administration and another in computer science there. |
