The generosity of Californians

A new listing of last year’s top donors suggests a philanthropy slump in 2002.

The listing, compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the online magazine Slate, reports that gifts and pledges by the 60 largest contributors in 2002 totaled $4.6 billion, compared to $12.7 billion in 2001.

Among the 11 biggest donors listed, three were Southern Californians: David Geffen, who gave $205 million to the UCLA School of Medicine; Eli and Edythe Broad, who gave $202.5 million to their own family foundation; and Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Joan, whose $130 million in gifts included $120 million to the San Diego symphony.

Among arts groups, the biggest beneficiary was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which received an art collection valued at more than $1 billion as a bequest from Walter H. Annenberg, who died in October.

-- Christopher Reynolds