Wall Street's Most Generous

The deepening credit crisis and proposed bailout of Wall Street are on everyone's mind, for good reason. But how is the turmoil in the markets likely to affect your nonprofit?

Back in January, Portfolio, the Conde Nast-published high-net-worth lifestyle magazine, ran a feature by Duff McDonald and Jessica Liebman purporting to show the fifty most generous philanthropists on Wall Street. Topped by retired hedge fund manager Robert Wilson (who plans to give away 70 percent of his sizable fortune before he dies), the list includes the famous (George Soros, Charles Schwab), the familiar (Sandy Weill, Henry Kravis), and the infamous (Henry Paulson).

The package also includes a nifty interactive chart of the fifty most generous family foundations on Wall Street by industry:

(click for the Flash version)

In The Nonprofit Quarterly, Rick Cohen has a good piece on the likely impact of the financial sector meltdown on foundation grantmaking and nonprofit budgets. And if you think the only people opposed to the bailout are free-market purists, NRA members, and NASCAR dads, check out the lively conversation unfolding on the NPQ Web site ("Sound Off on the Bailout").

-- Mitch Nauffts