2010 Giving Back 30

Celebrities Donate More Than $79 Million to Charities Around The United States

The Giving Back Fund has released the fourth annual Giving Back 30, a list of celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity in a calendar year according to public records. Oprah Winfrey tops the list for the third time with donations totaling $41,400.00 to support education and programs for women and children in the United States and abroad.

Author Nora Roberts was second with a $4.45 million donation to the Nora Roberts Foundation to support literacy in underserved communities. Actress Meryl Streep and her husband Donald Gummer rounds out the top 3 with a $4 million donation to the Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts, which they established in 1983; Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts distributed more than $1.8 million to arts, health and educational organizations around the country. Authors, actors, artists, comedians, and clothing designers were among the celebrities who made the list this year, along with a number of professional athletes from the NBA, NFL and MLB.

“Combined these celebrities donated nearly $80 million of their personal wealth to charities. We hope that in recognizing the extraordinary generosity of these celebrities, we will encourage and promote greater and more authentic giving among those blessed with both wealth and fame,” said Marc Pollick, president and founder of The Giving Back Fund.

Last year, Paul Newman was ranked No. 1 for contributions he made to his the Paul Newman Foundation prior to his death in 2008. That was the only year since its inception that Oprah Winfrey did not top the list.

Ranking	Name of Donor	Amount Donated	Charitable Beneficiaries
1	Oprah Winfrey	$41,400,000	Ms. Winfrey gave $40 million to the Oprah Winfrey Foundation in Chicago, to support education as well as programs for women and children in the United States and abroad. In addition to the donation to her foundation, Ms. Winfrey gave nearly $1.3 million to Oprah’s Angel Network, which she created in 1998 to encourage other celebrities and fans to donate money to charity.
2	Nora Roberts	$4,450,000	Ms. Roberts donated to the Nora Roberts Foundation, which distributed $1.68 million to various charities including $100,000 to Pro Literacy Worldwide. The foundation’s primary focus is to promote literacy, but it also supports children’s programs, arts organizations, and humanitarian efforts.
3	Meryl Streep and Donald Gummer	$4,000,000	The actress and her husband donated to the Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts. The Foundation, which they established, donated more than $1.8 million to arts, health and educational organizations around the country.
4	Jami Gertz and Tony Ressler	$2,908,737	The actress and her husband donated to the Ressler Gertz Foundation, which distributed $1,137,000 to primarily LA based organizations. The Foundation’s giving is focused on education and technology and it provides scholarships, financial aid, and awards in these areas.
5	Lance and Cara Berkman	$2,109,284	The New York Yankees’ player Lance Berkman and his wife Cara donated to The Lord’s Fund. The Fund, established by the couple, distributed $1,921,226 to religious based organizations.
6	Charles Woodson	$2,000,000	The Heisman Trophy winner and Green Bay Packer Charles Woodson donated to the C.S. Motts Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. The donation will help to construct a new hospital and to create a fund that will help doctors conduct clinical research to help children with cancer, heart disease, kidney disorders, and autism.
6	Madieu Williams	$2,000,000	The Minnesota Viking from Sierra Leone donated $2 million to create the Madieu Williams Center for Global Health Initiatives at the University of Maryland. The center will provide ongoing funds for research and services in his native country of Sierra Leone, as well as in Prince George's County, MD, where he grew up.
8	Alec Baldwin	$1,621,827	The actor donated to The Alec Baldwin Foundation, which distributed $1,697,444 to dozens of charities around the country, including a $1 million gift to establish a drama scholarship at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Other recipients include arts and environmental organizations.
9	Barbra Streisand	$1,400,000	One million dollars of Ms. Streisand’s contribution went to the Women’s Heart Center at Cedars Sinai Hospital. The remaining $400k was given to various children’s, environmental, civil rights groups, and groups working to preserve our Democratic values.
10	Oscar de la Hoya	$1,300,000	The champion boxer donated to Los Angeles' Green Dot Educational Projects, as well as the White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles.
11	Dan (Larry the Cable Guy) and Cara Whitney	$1,200,000	The actor and his wife established and donated to the Git R Done Foundation, which has helped the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Nebraska to build a new children's rehabilitation facility. The foundation also distributed $252,000 to a Child Advocacy Center in Nebraska.
12	Isabel Allende	$1,090,862	The author donated to The Isabel Allende Foundation, which distributed $346,475 to nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Chile. The grants were targeted to organizations whose missions are to provide women and girls with reproductive self-determination, healthcare, education, and protection from violence, exploitation and/or discrimination.
13	Carmelo Anthony	$1,066,037	The Denver Nuggets’ Forward donated to the Carmelo Anthony Foundation, which donated $500,000 to an athletic facility at Syracuse University and $453,000 to Living Classrooms Foundation in Maryland.
14	Dean and Gerda Koontz	$1,000,000	The authors donated to The Dean and Gerda Koontz Foundation, which distributed $1 million to Canine Companions for Independence, a charity that trains assistance dogs for people with disabilities. The foundation also donated $200,000 to St. Michaels Abby.
14	Giorgio Armani	$1,000,000	The designer donated $1 million to New York City public schools. The money will fund the Armani Arts Institute, which will support arts education in the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.
14	Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld	$1,000,000	The comedian and his wife, a best-selling author, donated to the Seinfeld Family Foundation, which distributed $1,327,457 to Scholarship of America and $250,000 to the Chapin School.
14	Bruce Springsteen	$1,000,000	The musician donated to his Thrill Hill Foundation, which distributed $217,320 including $20,000 to a New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans and $25,000 to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
14	Tyler Perry	$1,000,000	Mr. Perry contributed to the NAACP to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the civil rights organization. His contribution was the largest gift by an individual the organization has received.
14	Usher Raymond	$1,000,000	The musician gave to the Clinton Global Initiative to focus on youth service.
20	Yeardley Smith (voice of Lisa Simpson)	$900,000	Ms. Smith gave to the Grameen Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Grameen Bank, whose founder was the 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate.
21	Leroy Neiman	$800,000	The artist donated to the Leroy Neiman Foundation, which distributed $325,000 including $250,000 to Arts Horizon for the Leroy Neiman Center and $60,000 to the Good Tidings Foundation for the Leroy Neiman Center for Youth.
22	Lance Armstrong	$700,648	The athlete donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which focuses on raising awareness, increasing outreach, facilitating collaboration in an effort to improve the cancer experience.
23	Mariano Rivera	$700,000	Baseball star Mariano Rivera gave to the Mariano Rivera Foundation, which distributed $565,552, including $415,000 to The Church of God Prophecy and $50,000 to the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
24	Richard Gere	$589,000	The actor gave to the Gere Foundation, which distributed $565,552 in grants including $50,000 for the International Campaign for Tibet and $25,000 to Students For A Free Tibet.
25	Will and Jada Smith	$550,000	The acting couple donated to the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, which distributed $575,475 including $200,000 to Baltimore School for the Arts & $150,000 to City of Refuge.
26	Derek Jeter	$525,664	Derek Jeter donated to the Turn 2 Foundation, which distributed more than $949,368 to support after school, leadership, and educational programs in New York, Kalamazoo, and Tampa.
27	Scott Rolen	$505,838	The Cincinnati Reds baseball player Scott Rolen gave to the Ennis Furley Foundation. The mission of the foundation is "To bring smiles to the faces of children and their families who struggle with an illness, hardship, or other special needs.”
28	Morgan Freeman	$500,000	The actor donated to his Rock River Foundation. The foundation distributed $591,858, including $49,000 to the Mississippi Festival Foundation and $48,000 for scholarships at the University of Mississippi.
28	Will Ferrell And Viveca Paulin	$500,000	The actor and his wife gave to the Ferrell-Paulin Foundation, which has supported Los Angeles-based nonprofits working in various fields.
28	Dick Ebersol and Susan Saint James	$500,000	The actress and her husband, a television executive, donated to the Teddy Ebersol Foundation, which they established in honor of their son who passed away in 2004 in a tragic airplane accident.
29	Calvin Klein	$405,533	The designer donated to the Calvin Klein Foundation, which distributed nearly $200,000 to charities including the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center in New York.
30	Samuel and LaTanya Jackson	405,460	The actor and his wife donated to the Samuel and LaTanya Jackson Foundation, which distributed $217,225, including $50,000 to Artists for a New South Africa, and $45,000 to Spelman College Women’s Center.

Click here for the 2009 Giving Back 30

Click here for the 2008 Giving Back 30

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 for 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. Many of this year's donations were reported by researching private foundation records on www.Guidestar.org, a non-profit website available to the public. We would also like to acknowledge Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy's Million Dollar list, which reports on gifts of $1 million or more announced in the press.

Rankings

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.

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.

Who We Didn't Include

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.

Some celebrity-associated foundations chose not to submit information for inclusion and/or the foundations' tax-forms were not yet available to the public online.

In-Kind Gifts

This year no in-kind gifts made the list.

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.