After a Family Loss, Billionaires Dan and Jennifer Gilbert Seek a Cure
Their $375 million gift will build two medical centers, one named for their son, who died at age 26 of neurofibromatosis.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Mary and Richard Compton Give $50 Million to a Santa Barbara Hospital
Plus, University of Texas at Austin has landed $50 million for a new environmental studies field station, and MacKenzie Scott gave $10 million to a nonprofit that backs BIPOC-led businesses that provide jobs, training, and support to people who struggle to find employment.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
MacKenzie Scott Has Given 24 Nonprofits $146 Million in the First Half of 2023
Nearly half went to early-childhood education and development, but she also gave to strengthen maternal health, combat infant mortality, create affordable housing, and more.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Warren Buffett Gives $27 Million in Berkshire Hathaway Stock to an Unnamed Charity
He has said that more than 99 percent of his nearly $118 billion fortune will eventually go to charity.
By Josh Funk
AP Business Writer
Cancer Survivor Gives $25 Million to Build El Paso’s First Comprehensive Cancer Center
Plus, Pamela Wood Avedisian gave $20 million to American University of Armenia, MacKenzie Scott gave $12 million for affordable housing, and three other institutions landed multimillion-dollar gifts.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Writer and Producer Seth MacFarlane Gave $1 Million to Help Hollywood Workers Survive Strike
Plus, actor Eliza Dushku Palandjian and her husband, Peter Palandjian, gave Brigham and Women’s Hospital $7.5 million for substance-abuse treatment, and MacKenzie Scott gave $10 million to a group that works to expand affordable housing.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Kenneth and Elaine Langone Give $200 Million to Make Medical School Tuition Free
Plus, the MD Anderson Cancer Center lands $16 million for brain cancer research, and Tulane gets $12 million for a data-science program.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Abilene Christian U. Receives $25 Million to Endow Its College of Science and Engineering
Also, Florida Atlantic University received $11.5 million for research on amyloidosis, and a survivor of the Camp Fire in 2018 left $1.7 million to a Northern California community fund for its wildfire-recovery efforts.
By M.J. Prest
Senior Editor, Solutions
Silicon Valley’s biggest names are backing new ways to organize and fund science research. Some worry their experiments signal a “move fast and break things” approach.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor
He plans to continue to make payments to five foundations throughout his lifetime, as he promised in the statements he made announcing the pledges in 2006.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
George Soros Hands Control Over His Family’s Philanthropy to Son Alex
The new chair of Open Society Foundations says he is “more political” than his father and that he’s likely to make political donations that advance voting rights and abortion rights.
By Armin Langer
Contributor
Melinda French Gates Effort Aims to Accelerate Women’s Power and Influence
Pivotal Ventures, Gates’s limited-liability company, has committed up to $20 million to match gifts made by members of three donor networks. Sudnya Shroff (pictured here) says the money doubled her philanthropy’s power.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Billionaire Arthur Blank got his family involved in setting priorities. Mental health and democracy are also getting attention while grants in arts and early-childhood education will be discontinued.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Kendeda Fund’s $30 Million ‘Living Building’: Inspiration for Nonprofits
Diana Blank’s foundation put up $25 million to build the structure — and another $5 million to tell its story and help others launch similar projects.
By Drew Lindsay
Contributor
$1 Billion of ‘Trust-Based Philanthropy’: Before MacKenzie Scott, There Was Diana Blank
Why grantees of Diana Blank’s Kendeda Fund say she put on a “master class” during her 30 years of big giving.
By Drew Lindsay
Contributor
Plus, Omaha investor Wally Weitz gives $25 million to University of Nebraska Foundation, former Pawsox owner Madeleine Mondor gives Providence College $10 million for nursing, and two other nonprofits landed big gifts.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor