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(above) Angelina Jolie was honored in The
Giving Back Fund's 2005 Celebrity
Philanthropy Calendar. Jolie, along with
Brad Pitt, is among the top celebrity donors
in 2006.
Goals for the Giving Back 30:
- To honor the most charitable
of individuals in the sports and
entertainment communities - To encourage increased
giving within the sports and
entertainment communities - To encourage increased
transparency in sports and
entertainment philanthropy
Outreach
To compile the most accurate ratings,
we culled media reports of charitable
giving by sports and entertainment
professionals. We also reached out
to more than 250 publicists, attorneys,
agents, agencies, and managers for
information about their clients, sent
inquiries to more than 150 charities
known for their celebrity associations,
and contacted the major sports
leagues.
Rankings
Using this data, we ranked the
celebrities by what they had donated
and pledged in the past year. We did
not calculate their giving as a
percentage of their income since we
feel any estimate of income would be
too speculative.
Grants by Foundations
We did not include grants made by
foundations so as to avoid counting
them twice --- once when the donor
gave money to a foundation and
again when the donor decided on a
beneficiary for that money. In the
case of David Geffen, the amount
stated is the amount he donated to
his private foundation in 2006.
Previous gifts from his self-funded
foundation include a 2002 $200
million grant to the UCLA Medical
School.
In 2006, George Lucas' Lucasfilm
Foundation granted $175-million to
USC to establish a new film school.
We could not determine how much of
that gift was donated by Mr. Lucas in
2006 and so it is not included.
Similarly, Paul Newman donates
100% of his Newman’s Own profits to
charity but we were unable to
determine a dollar amount for 2006.
Newman’s Own’s web site indicates
that more than $200 million has been
donated by Paul Newman and the
Newman’s Own Foundation since
l982.
Confirmation
We confirmed information in the list
through at least one source other than
a media report. If a charity posted the
donation on its website we
considered that a confirmation.
Inclusion in the Slate 60 compiled by
the Chronicle of Philanthropy was
considered adequate in that they
conducted their own research and
confirmation.
Who We Didn't Include
Only one celebrity who we identified
as qualified to be in the list according
to media reports requested not to be
included. We did honor his request.
Undoubtedly, we missed some
donors because they chose to have
their gifts remain confidential, or their
advisors chose not to forward on our
request.
In addition, many celebrities choose
to redirect payments for their
performances to charities and some,
most notably Mr. Agassi, have
agreements with corporations in
which a corporate donation to their
charity is often a prerequisite for a
continued relationship. We did not
report on these donations because
there is no reliable source to confirm
these types of confidential
agreements.
In-Kind Gifts
Several individuals donated
significant private collections to
museums last year but they were not
included in the list because we could
not confirm the value of their gifts.
Robert DeNiro donated more than
3,000 of his own costume items and
props to the University Of Texas' Harry
Ransom Humanities Research
Center. Sylvester Stallone donated
memorabilia from the first five "Rocky"
films to the Smithsonian Institute and
Donald Trump donated 436 acres of
open space to New York State to
create a park.
Katrina and Tsunami Relief
Efforts
It is important to note that many
individuals not on the list this year
gave six, seven, or even eight figure
contributions to Katrina relief and
Tsunami relief efforts last year.
Furthermore, multi-year pledges are
only included if they were pledged in
2006 so donors may be fulfilling
previous pledges without recognition
in the list.
The Giving Back Fund included only
those gifts donors made in 2006 to
groups classified as charities or
foundations under Section 501(c)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code. The
Giving Back Fund formed a
committee of qualified experts to
review our findings to help ensure that
we were consistent in our reporting.
Future Goals
In subsequent years, we hope that
donors will become more
comfortable sharing information
about their charitable contributions.
We believe this information will both
inspire others to greater charitable
efforts and encourage transparency in
sports and entertainment philanthropy.
Contact Us
To inform us of a donation or pledge
by a celebrity in 2007, please email
us at:
GivingBack30@givingback.org
|
Sponsors and Corporate
Supporters
We thank the following
corporate sponsors and
supporters for sharing our
passion to give back:
Supporters
We thank the following
corporate sponsors and
supporters for sharing our
passion to give back:
 | Arden Realty | |
| Blanchard Press | |
| BurrellesLuce | |
| Google Inc. | |
| Grassroots.org | |
| Time Warner, Inc. | |
Giving Back 30 Committee
Special thanks to our committee
members who reviewed our
findings to ensure that we
followed commonly accepted
reporting practices and that we
were consistent in our reporting:
Crystal Allene Cook
Program Manager for See Jane;
Scott A. Edelman, co-chair of
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher 's
Media and Entertainment
Practice; Stacy Mann, Director
of Marketing Programs for
Network for Good; Paul G
Schervish, Director of the
Center on Wealth and
Philanthropy (CWP) at Boston
College; and Ken Shropshire,
Professor and Director, Wharton
Sports Business Initiative
Special thanks to our committee
members who reviewed our
findings to ensure that we
followed commonly accepted
reporting practices and that we
were consistent in our reporting:
Crystal Allene Cook
Program Manager for See Jane;
Scott A. Edelman, co-chair of
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher 's
Media and Entertainment
Practice; Stacy Mann, Director
of Marketing Programs for
Network for Good; Paul G
Schervish, Director of the
Center on Wealth and
Philanthropy (CWP) at Boston
College; and Ken Shropshire,
Professor and Director, Wharton
Sports Business Initiative
As reported in People magazine, The Giving Back Fund has compiled a list of the
celebrities who have made the largest personal public donations to charity in 2006.
Encouragement-by-example is the main reason for the Giving Back 30 list,” says Marc
Pollick, President of The Giving Back Fund. “Ten years ago when Slate magazine first
published the Slate 60 reporting on the most generous American philanthropists, the last
donor on their list gave $5 million. This year the last donor donated $30 million to charity.
This is the type of growth we are hoping to inspire within the sports and entertainment
community. One cannot help but be influenced by the generosity of his or her peers.”
<read press release>
celebrities who have made the largest personal public donations to charity in 2006.
Encouragement-by-example is the main reason for the Giving Back 30 list,” says Marc
Pollick, President of The Giving Back Fund. “Ten years ago when Slate magazine first
published the Slate 60 reporting on the most generous American philanthropists, the last
donor on their list gave $5 million. This year the last donor donated $30 million to charity.
This is the type of growth we are hoping to inspire within the sports and entertainment
community. One cannot help but be influenced by the generosity of his or her peers.”
<read press release>
| The Giving Back 30 List of Largest Charitable Donations by Celebrities in 2006 |
The Giving Back Fund was
established in 1997 to serve as
the premier philanthropic
resource to the sports and
entertainment communities. We
provide philanthropic advice,
management, and mentoring to
help encourage responsible,
authentic, and effective charity.
established in 1997 to serve as
the premier philanthropic
resource to the sports and
entertainment communities. We
provide philanthropic advice,
management, and mentoring to
help encourage responsible,
authentic, and effective charity.
| the premier philanthropic resource for the sports and entertainment communities |
