Joan Kroc, NPR, and Charitable Giving

Today's New York Times has an interesting article (in the Arts & Leisure section) about Joan Kroc's $230 million gift to National Public Radio (NPR), and how the gift has changed that organization's culture and outlook.  (The article can be found here, although registration is required.)

Two points in the article (which was written by Jacques Steinberg) stood out to me:

1. The gift came as a surprise to NPR, which (presumably) means that Mrs. Kroc hadn't been in contact with NPR about making the gift.  I usually advise my clients who are inclined to make large charitable gifts that they may want to coordinate such gifts with the charity.  The main reason for such coordination is that it allows the client to make sure that the charity can handle the gift, and has a plan for its use.

2. Nina Totenberg (NPR's legal affairs correspondent) mentions one downside to the receipt of a large gift, stating that "My one fear is, people will think, 'We don't have to give.'"  Lots of charities struggle with this mindset -- a similar mindset often appears when donors are solicited to make planned gifts to charities that deal with social ills, and say something like "if you [the charity] do your job, won't this problem be eradicated before I die?"