Globe Spotlight report - Charity at home

Edifice complex
Some foundations have dipped into assets to buy their own buildings. In two of the cases here, the purchases were made even though foundation expenses exceed charitable donations. In the third case, foundation assets were used to buy an office co-op at a fashionable Manhattan address.

*Financial information from interviews and 990-PF tax returns of 2001, the last year for which returns are available.