Star-studded Robin Hood Foundation galas raise $101M
By James Covert (The New York Post) – The Robin Hood Foundation raised a jaw-dropping and record-setting $101 million at its gala Tuesday night — and now it’s bent on raising a new generation of philanthropists as well.
For the first time, the Big Apple’s biggest charity hosted two additional fundraising parties alongside its annual bash at the Javits Center, with both of them aimed at the next generation of New Yorkers who want to battle poverty in their city.
Both new events — one at Lavo in Midtown and the other at the Dream Hotel in Chelsea — were sold out as they drew more than 1,000 attendees for the Philanthropic Young Things, a new group that Robin Hood founded a year ago.
“You’re not going to win the fight against poverty with individuals — you need an army,” said hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, who founded Robin Hood in 1988.
“Bringing on this new generation of Robin Hood soldiers not only makes our army stronger, but also helps ensure that we’ll still be helping New Yorkers in need 40, 50, even 100 years down the line.”
At the main event, a crowd of more than 4,000 donors — including Wall Street tycoons David Tepper, Henry Kravis and David Einhorn — were entertained by the likes of Paul McCartney, Jimmy Fallon and Jon Bon Jovi, sources at the event told The Post.
The $101 million raised is believed to be the record for a US fundraiser.
Hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square, and an anonymous donor, each kicked in $25 million, to help get the total into record territory, sources said.
At the spinoff parties, DJs spun tunes for the dance floor, backed by electric saxophones and bongo players. Dancers performed in Robin Hood outfits while massive video screens flashed scenes from the main event posted on Twitter and Instagram.
Indeed, the new events were organized on an appropriately high-tech platform: Host Committee, a Facebook-based event-planning site founded by New York nightlife impresario Andy Russell.
“This is all about getting people engaged and thinking about philanthropy at a young age,” Russell said.
Ivy Prince, a financial consultant at Ernst & Young, used Host Committee to corral 32 guests for the shindig at Lavo. That, in turn, won her perks, including admission to the Robin Hood gala’s first-ever after-party held at the Marquee in Chelsea, where Questlove was DJing.
“Everyone seems to recognize the Robin Hood name,” Prince said. “So they have stepped up to purchase tickets.”
Host Committee is in talks to organize as many as 20 satellite events throughout the city for Robin Hood’s gala next year in an effort to “further democratize” it, according to Russell. The group has organized more than 750 events in New York City over the past two and a half years.
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