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Even in a city as rich as New York, it's not every day that an organization is created with $55 million a year to give away.
So it's little wonder that the $1.2 billion Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has been inundated by letters and requests--thousands of them--since it was officially launched last month.
Now, a year after the tobacco heiress' publicly contested estate was finally settled, New York's newest foundation is getting down to the nitty-gritty of how much to give and to whom.
The foundation, which ranks among the country's 20 largest, plans to distribute $17 million this year and $55 million per year thereafter. Using Ms. Duke's will as a general guide, the organization will give grants to support the performing arts, medical research and environmental conservation. New York's nonprofits, buffeted by years of government cutbacks, are eagerly lining up to benefit from the boost in grant-making.
"It will be happily received," says Peter Swords, executive director of the New...