Robin Hood Foundation

The Robin Hood Foundation is a charitable organization which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City. The organization also administers a relief fund for disasters in the New York City area. In 2010, a key supporter gave every family with children on welfare in New York State $200 to buy school supplies.[5] In 2017, Robin Hood appointed author and US Army veteran Wes Moore as its first CEO.[6]

Robin Hood Foundation
Founded1988 (1988)[1]
FounderPaul Tudor Jones
Peter Borish
Glenn Dubin
David Saltzman
TypeVenture philanthropy[2][1]
FocusPoverty reduction[1]
Location
  • New York, New York, United States[3]
Area served
New York City[1]
MethodCombining investment principles and philanthropy to assist programs that target poverty.
Key people
Wes Moore
Revenue (2015)
$184,960,470[4]
Expenses (2015)$157,218,464[4]
Websitewww.robinhood.org

History

Founded in 1988 and named after the heroic outlaw from English folklore, the Robin Hood Foundation was conceived by hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones and co-founded with Peter Borish and Glenn Dubin.[7][8][9][10]

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.[11]

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.[5] 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.[12] 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. During the 2019-20 Coronavirus Pandemic, the Rise Up New York! telethon provided funds to those impacted by the pandemic.

As of 2016, it was #79 on the Forbes 100 Largest U.S. Charities list.[13]

In 2017, Robin Hood appointed author and veterans advocate Wes Moore as its CEO.[6] 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.[14]

Approach

According to the Foundation "Since 1988 Robin Hood has targeted poverty in New York City by supporting and developing organizations that provide direct services to poor New Yorkers as well as improving their earning power and long-term prospects. Robin Hood provides program grants, general operating support, capital grants, and funds to build management capacity."[15]

Fortune magazine said "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[1] that it applies the following principles:

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

Programs

The Robin Hood Foundation works with more than 240 nonprofit organizations in New York and surrounding areas.[16] They categorize their programs into "Core fund recipients" and "Relief fund recipients".[16] Core fund recipients consist of four portfolios: early childhood, education, jobs and economic security, and survival.[16]

Hurricane Sandy

The relief fund also benefited victims of Hurricane Sandy.[17] As of March 14, 2013, they were "no longer accepting online grant applications for Hurricane Sandy Relief" (and resuming the organization's regular work).[18]

COVID-19 Pandemic

On May 11th 2020, the Robin Hood Foundation partnered with New York area television stations, and local radio stations owned by iHeart Radio and Entercom to televise the Rise Up New York telethon to support those impacted by the 2019 Coronavirus Pandemic. The event raised $110 million in approximately an hour.

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.[19]

Founding Board Members

The founding members of the board were as follows:[20]

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References
  1. "Approach". Robin Hood Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  2. 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. "Robin Hood Foundation" (PDF). Foundation Center. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  5. 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.
  6. Elizabeth A. Harris (April 25, 2017). "Robin Hood, Favorite Charity on Wall Street, Gets New Leader". The New York Times.
  7. Teltsch, Kathleen (May 9, 1991). "Nowadays, Robin Hood Gets the Rich to Give to the Poor". The New York Times.
  8. "The Emperors of Benevolence". New York magazine. November 5, 2007.
  9. "Board of Directors – Peter Borish" Robin Hood
  10. 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. p. 159. Retrieved April 22, 2014. Peter Borish.
  11. editor-at-large, By Andy Serwer, Fortune senior. "The legend of Robin Hood - September 18, 2006". archive.fortune.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  12. Joshua Dawsey. "A Preview of the '12-12-12′ Concert and Where to Watch". Wall Street Journal.
  13. "#79 Robin Hood Foundation". Forbes. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  14. Amanda L Gordon. "Robin Hood Turns to Ex-Paratrooper, Citigroup Veteran as CEO". Bloomberg.
  15. "ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION". GuideStar Nonprofit Directory. GuideStar USA. 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  16. "Programs". Robin Hood Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 June 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  17. "Robin Hood Responds".
  18. "Hurricane Sandy Grant Distribution".
  19. "Modern-day Robin Hood". Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  20. Serwer, Andy (September 8, 2006). "The legend of Robin Hood - How the leaders of the hedge fund world have banded together to fight poverty - taking gobs of money from the rich, applying strict financial metrics in giving it away, and making philanthropy cool among the business elite". CNN Money.
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