Celebs Who Give the Most
Last week’s list of the most philanthropic celebrities has set tongues wagging. The results were compiled by the Giving Back Fund, which highlights charitable behavior among movie stars, athletes and other famous faces.
Topping the list was a not-very-well-known actress named Jami Gertz who, along with her husband, gave over $10 million to a foundation which bears their names. Many of the top 30 celeb donors gave their large gifts to their own charitable foundations. In that case, some of the money likely goes out to nonprofits directly, while some of it remains in the bank so the Foundation can have it in perpetuity. The private foundations listed in this article appear to give heavily to churches, hospitals, higher education, and literacy.
In cases where the celebrities gave directly to the nonprofits, however, it’s an interesting glimpse into their personal values. Model Giselle Bundchen gave $1.5 million directly to the Red Cross, earmarked for relief services in Haiti. Sandra Bullock gave $1million directly to Doctors Without Borders, also directed specifically to Haitian programs. Taylor Swift donated $500,000 to flood relief efforts in Tennessee. And Hugh Hefner gave $900,000 to keep the iconic Hollywood sign from being demolished for luxury real estate (Hey, I think that counts as personal!)
Just like the rest of us, celebrities give to the causes that inspire them. The Forbes article reveals an interesting debate, however: do celebrity donors attached to a cause make Average Joes more likely to follow suit? The author doesn’t have an answer, but does suggest that IF the celebrity is fully informed and honestly engaged in the cause (think Bono, for example), then we ARE more likely to follow the lead of a generous celeb.
