New York Institutions Rank High On ‘Philanthropy 400′ Rankings

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The New York Sun

New York City’s museums, hospitals, and social service agencies are leaders on the Philanthropy 400, a list of top charities nationwide published today by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

It may not be as widely read as the Fortune 500, but the Philanthropy 400 list matters to the country’s top donors and fund-raising professionals, by passing judgment on their ability to attract private dollars from individuals, foundations, and corporations. The list is ranked in order of which organizations received the most money.

Columbia University, New York University, the Museum of Modern Art, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, and Rockefeller University are all in the top 100.

New York City is home to more charities on the list than any other city — 55 compared to Washington’s 21, Chicago’s 15, and Seattle’s five.

Charities have been experiencing an upswing in revenues, with a 13% median increase in funds raised. And the pace is expected to continue, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports, citing 49 charities on the list that are forecasting similar increases this year.

The list shows where old and new money are flowing. The Museum of Modern Art was the highest-ranked New York cultural institution with the help of a $100 million gift from David Rockefeller, whose mother, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, was a founder of the museum. Meanwhile, the hot charity for young hedge-fund millionaires, the Robin Hood Foundation, had a 48% increase in private funding, with $106 million raised.

Juilliard School did well in the year that marked its 100th anniversary. In general, year to year increases are not necessarily meaningful.

“There’s no normal year, because you never know when bequests are going to come in, or someone makes a lot of money on Wall Street and gives a large gift,” the director of communications for the New York Community Trust, Ani Hurwitz, said.

External factors also have an impact on the results. In 2005, these included the campaigns for Hurricane Katrina relief and the promotion of donor-advised funds by financial institutions.

“We’ve been doing donor-advised funds since the 1940s, but we never had an advertising budget for it. Now more people are giving there,” Ms. Hurwitz said.

A LOOK AT WHERE NEW YORK CITY CHARITIES LANDED ON THE PHILANTHROPY 400

UNIVERSITIES

(#33) Columbia University, $341 million
(#55) New York University, $247 million
(#92) Rockefeller University, $164 million
(#249) Yeshiva University, $65 million
(#336) Juilliard School, $46 million

Cornell came in at #30, with $354 million)
(The nation’s top university finishers were Stanford University at #16 with $603 million and Harvard at #18 with $590 million)

ARTS AND CULTURE

(#57) Museum of Modern Art, $239 million
(#162) Metropolitan Museum of Art, $96 million
(#165) Metropolitan Opera Association, $93 million
(#182) American Museum of Natural History, $84 million
(#231) New York Public Library, $69 million
(#330) Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, $47 million
(#345) Carnegie Hall Corporation, $45 million

HOSPITALS

(#66) Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, $206 million
(#111) New York-Presbyterian Hospital, $134 million

SOCIAL SERVICES AND COMMUNITY

(#72) UJA-New York, $197 million
(#118) New York Community Trust, $127 million
(#146) Robin Hood Foundation, $106 million

THE TOP 3 CHARITIES

#1 United Way of America, $4 billion, Alexandria, VA
#2 Salvation Army, $3.6 billion, Alexandria, VA
#3 AmeriCares Foundation, $1.3 billion, Stamford, CT

The first 15 on the list were national and international service organizations.


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