Robin Hood Foundation

Robin Hood Foundation
Founded 1988[1]
Founder Paul Tudor Jones
Type Venture philanthropy[2][1]
Focus Poverty reduction[1]
Location
Area served
New York City[1]
Method Combining investment principles and philanthropy to assist programs that target poverty.
Revenue (2015)
$184,960,470[4]
Expenses (2015) $157,218,464[4]
Website www.robinhood.org

The Robin Hood Foundation is a charitable organization which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City, United States. The organization also administers a relief fund for disasters in the New York City area.

History

Founded in 1988, Robin Hood was conceived by hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones. Peter Borish was also a founding board member of the organization.[5][6]

The foundation combines investment principles and philanthropy to assist programs that target poverty in New York City. In 2006, the board of directors included such names as Jeffrey Immelt, Diane Sawyer, Harvey Weinstein, Marie-Josee Kravis, Lloyd Blankfein, of Goldman Sachs, Richard S. Fuld, Jr., formerly of Lehman Brothers, Glenn Dubin, of Highbridge Capital, Marian Wright Edelman and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.[7]

Funding for the organization's activities comes from donations and fund raising efforts. In 2009, George Soros gave the foundation a US$50 million contribution. The money reportedly helped the organization raise significantly more than that amount.[8] In 2001 The Concert for New York City provided funds for the organization. After Hurricane Sandy, the 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief concert also provided funds for the foundation's efforts.[9] Artists including The Rolling Stones, Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation, Shakira, John Legend, The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, The Who and Aerosmith have performed at the group's annual fund raising galas.

In 2017, Robin Hood appointed author and veterans advocate Wes Moore as its CEO. Moore grew up in poverty in the Bronx before becoming a Rhodes scholar at the University of Oxford, a paratrooper and captain in the 82nd Airborne, and investment banker at Citigroup. Moore succeeds David Saltzman who was the Executive Director since co-founding the organization.[10]

As of 2016, it was #79 on the Forbes 100 Largest U.S. Charities list.[11]

Approach

According to Fortune magazine, "Robin Hood was a pioneer in what is now called venture philanthropy, or charity that embraces free-market forces. An early practitioner of using metrics to measure the effectiveness of grants, it is a place where strategies to alleviate urban poverty are hotly debated, ineffectual plans are coldly discarded, and its staff of 66 hatches radical new ideas."[2]

More specifically, the foundation states that it applies the following principles:

  • Give 100 percent of every donation directly to programs helping poor New Yorkers.[1]
  • Identify and stop poverty at its roots.[1]
  • Protect and leverage Robin Hood’s investments by using sound business principles to help programs become more effective.[1]
  • Use metrics and qualitative data to evaluate programs and measure results to compare the relative poverty-fighting success of similar programs.[1]

Programs

The Robin Hood Foundation works with more than 240 nonprofit organizations in New York and surrounding areas.[12] They categorize their programs into "Core fund recipients" and "Relief fund recipients".[12] Core fund recipients consist of four portfolios: early childhood, education, jobs and economic security, and survival.[12] The relief fund also benefited victims of Hurricane Sandy.[13]

Reception

The Robin Hood Foundation was featured in Fortune's 18 September 2006 issue, where the article states that the foundation is "one of the most innovative and influential philanthropic organizations of our time."[2] On September 16, 2013 the news show 60 Minutes aired a report on Jones and how the Foundation has given away more than 25 million dollars.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Approach". Robin Hood Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Serwer, Andy (2006-09-08). "The legend of Robin Hood". Fortune. CNN. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Contact us". Robin Hood Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 June 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Robin Hood Foundation" (PDF). Foundation Center. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "Board of Directors – Peter Borish" Robin Hood
  6. ↑ Tom Brokaw (2012). The Time of Our Lives: A Conversation about America - Who We Are, Where We've Been, and Where We Need to Go Now, to Recapture the American Dream. Random House LLC. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ editor-at-large, By Andy Serwer, Fortune senior. "The legend of Robin Hood - September 18, 2006". archive.fortune.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  8. ↑ Strom, Stephanie (September 6, 2010). "George Soros to Donate $100 Million to Human Rights Watch". The New York Times. New York: NYTC. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Joshua Dawsey. "A Preview of the '12-12-12′ Concert and Where to Watch". Wall Street Journal.
  10. ↑ Amanda L Gordon. "Robin Hood Turns to Ex-Paratrooper, Citigroup Veteran as CEO". Bloomberg.
  11. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/companies/robin-hood-foundation/
  12. 1 2 3 "Programs". Robin Hood Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 June 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  13. ↑ "Robin Hood Responds".
  14. ↑ "Modern-day Robin Hood". Retrieved 2017-07-11.
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