NPR given record donation ($200 million) [View All]

[Newsjock]

Edits to add link, change title to conform
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6973-2003Nov6.html

By Paul Farhi and Reilly Capps
(c) 2003, The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — National Public Radio will announce Thursday the largest donation in its history, a cash bequest from the will of the late philanthropist Joan Kroc of about $200 million.

The bequest from the wife of the founder of the McDonald's fast-food chain both shocked and delighted people at NPR's headquarters in Washington Wednesday. It amounts to almost twice NPR's annual operating budget. ``No one saw this coming,'' said one person.

The nonprofit organization, which will disclose details of the bequest at a news conference Thursday afternoon, called the donation the ``largest monetary gift ever received by an American cultural institution'' in a brief announcement to its staff Wednesday.

The gift was such a surprise to NPR officials that they were uncertain what the money would be used for. The organization's board is expected to meet in the next few weeks to decide what to do with the windfall. An NPR spokesperson declined to comment Wednesday.

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