The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation

From Roger Friedman:

But how to explain the newly available actual finances of this corrupt, dying establishment created by Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner?

According to the 2006-2007 federal tax filing for the Foundation just published at guidestar.org, expenses are higher than ever while charity remains almost nil. Consider that in 2006-2007, the Foundation — which claims assets of over $14 million — made just four charitable donations.

They were:

A mere $475 — the cost of a lunch at say Harry Cipriani — was sent to the T.J. Martell Foundation, the music business’s indisputable main medical charity and a key player in worldwide cancer research.

An equally astounding $500 to City of Hope, the important Duarte, Calif., cancer research center and hospital: $500. Yes, just $500.

A third donation, of $167,000, went to the Rock Hall Museum in Cleveland. This was not for the museum itself, which the Foundation doesn’t support. It was to pay for staff to maintain the Foundation’s archives, which are housed there.

The fourth donation was $25,000 to New York’s Fund for Public Schools. You might wonder what the motivation was there, since the preservation of rock 'n' roll probably isn’t on this group’s mandate.

But the $25,000 is well spent. This is where Wenner receives perhaps a twofer: socialite Agnes Gund, head of the Museum of Modern Art, is on the board. Her family’s foundation secured the original mortgage for the Cleveland Museum. Wenner also gets to play with big time New York socialites and moguls like board members Caroline Kennedy, Mort Zuckerman and Lenny Riggio (Barnes & Noble).

Jann Wenner is another supporter of Barack Obama who is better at talking the talk than walking the talk.