The first question everyone has: Is this about money? Yes it is. It's about the Trustees priorities for how they spend Doris Duke's money.

Duke Farms Director Tim Taylor told Anne Raver of the New York Times that Doris Duke's creation costs $400,000 to heat. That's quite bizarre since it's in the middle of a 700 acre wood lot, and obviously this figure could be reduced by making the gardens an environmental showcase. It's also 10 times what the tax returns say they cost to heat in 1996, so the inflation rate in Hillsborough must be quite high. But lets take $400,000 for now.

The Gardens were so important to Doris that she had 18 full-time gardeners, but DDCF has changed most garden work at Duke Farms to part time without benefits. Let's assume ten full-time Gardeners costing $100,000 each, including benefits.

That's $1 million plus $400,000 = $1.4 million, minus $500,000 in revenue (50,000 visitors x $10).
Gardens = $900,000

The Foundation chose not to be based in New Jersey. Instead they lease office space on the 18th and 19th floors of 650 Fifth Avenue.
5th Ave 19th floor = $734,577 a year

The eleven Trustees are entitled to pay themselves $126,078 per year for 60 hours work [2005 Tax filing, Statement 17].
Trustees = $1,386,858

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation accounts are visible under About us -> Financial information on their website:
http://www.ddcf.org

Below is part of the DDCF 2006 balance sheet. The Display Gardens would be an item in the c.$10 million Duke Farms budget (2005 IRS filing), which is part of $20.4 million "Program" costs, along with Shangri La (Hawaii) and Rough Point (RI). In the same period, the foundation made real and estimated investment gains totaling $241.9 million, for an estimated total worth of nearly $2 billion.

Return to Home Page