There’s nothing I love more than depressing news on a Friday afternoon.
Okay, maybe that’s not true. But if my weekend is going to be ruined, so is yours.
Nicholas Kristof decide to publish (in the New York Times, no less) a 14-page list of private foundations who lost money in the Madoff Ponzi scheme. He writes, “A few private foundations have owned up to the money they’ve lost with Mr. Madoff, but most haven’t. So let me help them out.” (MORE)
The file gives foundation names, their total assets, possible Madoff exposure, and their largest donation. The list is based on tax filings for the past two years, and if anything, Kristof tells us, the list underestimates losses.
Normally lists of the largest philanthropic gifts and givers, such as those from Business Week and the Chronicle of Philanthropy, reads like a Hebrew school roster, but few of the gifts are directed to Jewish causes.
Unfortunately, Kristof’s list of “largest donations recipients” is a role call for Jewish organizations across the country: JCC Association, UJA, Museum of Jewish Heritage, UJC, and so on.
Out of the 147 foundations on the list, at least (and this is just my quick counting) 55 had their largest gift go to a Jewish organization.
Is now a bad time to ask you to donate to our site…
