Scores of celebrities may have lent their names to departing Daily Beast editor Tina Brown’s nonprofit, Women in the World Foundation — but a year later, these same high-profile backers may be having second thoughts.
They’ve helped raise the cash, but Ms. Brown hasn’t handed out hardly any, The New York Post reported.
Between 2011 — when Ms. Brown launched with fanfare her nonprofit at a New York City star-studded event — and now, the foundation’s fallen far short of distribution goals. Of the $1.2 million raised, only $10,000 has been given out in grants, Internal Revenue Service records indicate.
The party cost more: Ms. Brown paid $168,048 for the launch, which was hosted by Meryl Streep and went forth in ritzy digs in downtown Manhattan, The Post reported.
The foundation told the IRS on its registration documents that it would distribute $300,000 in grants between June and December 2011 — but only gave out $10,000 to the Fund for the City of New York, The Post said. Meanwhile, the foundation expressed a goal of collecting $1.5 million from donors over that same six-month period — but only collected $1.17 million.
Expenses came in at $536,868 during that same time frame, The Post said. That includes the $168,048 launch party. It’s not known if Ms. Brown brought the charity back in line with its founding goals over the past few months. The foundation sought, and received, an extension for its 2012 filing and has yet to report the latest numbers to the IRS.
The charity was established by Newsweek/Daily Beast to piggyback off Ms. Brown’s name and fame as a means of “advancing women and girls” around the world, Ms. Brown said then, The Post reported.
Ms. Brown, editor of The Daily Beast, announced just this week that she’s departing from the position.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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