In 2012, charitable giving rose for the third year in a row in the United States, reaching a total of $316.23 billion.1 Individual donors were responsible for the majority of charitable gifts, making contributions in the amount of $228.93 billion.2
Not surprisingly, as donors become more charitably minded and make larger, more significant contributions, they desire greater control over the administration of their gifts. Unfortunately, both common law and New York statutory law impede donor enforcement of the terms of their charitable gifts, traditionally providing standing only to the state attorney general.3 One of the purposes of this policy, as first articulated by Chief Justice John Marshall in Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, is to prevent “vexatious litigation” by irresponsible parties who do not have a tangible stake in the matter.4 Increasingly, however, New York courts are recognizing the need to supplement the attorney general’s powers with private enforcement of gift restrictions and have relaxed standing requirements when private parties have a “special interest” in the charitable gift.5
