Did you know that philanthropic gifts from U.S. donors in 2013 resulted in a significant increase and that most of those donors were men? According to an article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, ranking of the 50 donors who give the most to charitable causes shows that the nation’s wealthy contributed $7.7-billion last year, 4 percent more than in 2012. Most of these donors were men; 23 earned their wealth in either finance or investments, 12 in real estate, six in technology, and the rest from a mix of other pursuits or inheritances.
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, led the group of donors in 2013 with a nearly $1-billion gift to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, making the organization one of the biggest foundations in the United States. The California couple was followed by the Texas energy tycoon George Mitchell, who pioneered hydraulic-fracturing for finding natural gas. When Mr. Mitchell died in July, he left an estimated $750-million to his family foundation, in support of conservation and sustainability.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penelope, gave $500-million for cancer research at the Oregon Health & Science University Foundation. Even though the couple at the top of the list is the youngest ever—Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan are both under 30—that doesn’t translate that the list demonstrated a surge in young donors. To the contrary, the median age of donors was 72.5. http://philanthropy.com/article/Gifts-Surge-From-the/144601/
The Valenti Foundation is dedicated to transforming the lives of those most vulnerable, children and the elderly. www.valentifoundation.org