Wealthy Donors

A billionaire philanthropist is backing Europe's first major school of government, which opens at Oxford University later today. Len Blavatnik, a Russian-American industrialist, has ploughed £75m into the venture so far and says he is prepared to offer more. The school, which will be launched with a message of support from the former US president Bill Clinton, aims to train outstanding graduates from around the world in the skills and responsibilities of government.

Penn State President Graham Spanier announced to the Board of Trustees (Sept. 17) the largest private gift in the University's history -- $88 million from Terrence M. and Kim Pegula to fund a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arena and help to establish an NCAA Division I men's hockey program.

The gift paves the way for the creation of a Division I women's ice hockey program and enhanced figure skating opportunities.

China's most famous philanthropist said on Wednesday more than 100 Chinese entrepreneurs had responded to his appeal to donate all of their personal wealth to society.

The remark came amid a stir over the willingness of China's rich to part with their money for a good cause after only a small number of Chinese businessmen had accepted invitations to an upcoming charity event.

The $100 million gift to Human Rights Watch from billionaire George Soros announced last week will extend the overseas presence of the influential American rights champion and ensure its financial health for years to come. But the goal of the gift is more ambitious still: to alter the way human rights are promoted in the 21st century, making rights advocacy less of an exclusively American and European cause.

BEIJING - Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett plan to sell the art of giving to China's super rich in a visit later this month that's already sparked some soul searching among the world's second-largest number of billionaires. Reactions to Gates and Buffett's trip have been swift and varied: One prominent Chinese philanthropist quickly pledged his entire fortune to charity, while the head of a private foundation said Chinese businesses should be leery of emulating American-style charity donations before essential corporate standards such as worker's rights are improved.

Fundraisers expect to see more and more donors making contributions prompted by tax considerations in coming months. As a result, they expect a surge in large gifts this year and next. Federal lawmakers are considering at least half a dozen tax changes, and most would have the effect of increasing taxes on wealthy people in 2011.

The tax changes are one reason Congress has been in gridlock, however, and the outcome might not be determined until after the November elections—just as the busiest part of the giving season begins

Last year, billionaire fund manager Stanley F. Druckenmiller shifted $700 million of his own money to his family foundation. Before the transfer, the foundation had assets of about $6.5 million.

Transferring a quarter of his reported net worth to the nonprofit earned Druckenmiller the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s No. 1 ranking of largest individual charitable contributions in 2009. That year, he and his wife, Fiona, gave $100 million to New York University’s Langone Medical Center to create a neuroscience institute.

This month, the new Mandel Building of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland opened for business in Beachwood.

Less than a mile away, The Mandel Jewish Community Center building reached the half-way point in its massive renovation, with several new areas already open to the public.

The American dream that any person with enough drive, ambition and determination can rise to the top along a chosen career path has taken a beating in recent years. First, today's challenging economic climate makes it seem unlikely, if not impossible, that hard work and initiative alone can lead to financial success. Just ask all those people who invested in real estate in the first half of this decade or talk to an entrepreneur who started a business a couple of years ago.Second, the image of the super-rich has been tarnished by allegations of moral missteps, unethical business practices

Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investing firm of eBay Inc. founder Pierre Omidyar, plans to plough as much as $200 million into India in the next five years. The organization’s target: businesses and non-profits that can make a “social impact” and improve life for people on the lowest economic rungs.