SEATTLE (AP) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may be the world's richest charitable foundation, but that hardly shields them from the economic downturn.
Between January 2008 and April 2009, the foundation saw its assets drop from $39 billion to $27.5 billion. The organization's new chief executive says his mission includes figuring out a way to keep the money flowing to needy people around the world without spending down the endowment in a hurry.
The federal government requires charitable foundations to pay out 5 percent of their assets each year. Because assets are falling, many foundations are cutting their donations to charitable causes in 2009.
The Seattle-based Gates Foundation says it wouldn't be cutting its distributions in 2009 but will slow its growth.
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