Friday, March 30, 2007

Hedge-Fund Philanthropy Comes With Strings (Google, Microsoft, eBay) | SmartMoney.com

Hedge-Fund Philanthropy Comes With Strings (Google, Microsoft, eBay) | SmartMoney.com: "OR CENTURIES RICH PEOPLE have given money away in the names of the causes dear to their hearts — be it libraries, dreaded diseases or miniature schnauzers (more on the latter below). Today the wealthy are opening their wallets like never before. From 1995 to 2004 there was a 61% increase in the amount given to grant-making foundations, according to the Foundation Center, with total giving for 2004 hitting $31.84 billion. Yet even as vast amounts of wealth pour into philanthropic endeavors, expectations on how those funds will be used are undergoing a shift away from their purely altruistic roots.

'There is change in the field,' says Peter Frumkin, director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the University of Texas at Austin. 'What we've seen in the last 10 years has been high-visibility, high-net-worth individuals playing a much more active role in philanthropy.'"

No comments: