At 6 p.m. this evening a celebration of the life and legacy of visionary philanthropist Robert W. Wilson will be held at The New York Public Library.

Bob Wilson was no ordinary philanthropist. Not only did he contribute more than $600 million to a diverse range of causes, he attached one major condition to almost all of his contributions — that the money be used to spur matching contributions from others.

Bob began using the matching gift technique in the late 1980s, long before it became fashionable in the fundraising world. And he delivered the check only after other donors had been lined up.

Among the beneficiaries of his philanthropy are Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), The Nature Conservancy, The Wildlife Conservation Society and the World Monuments Fund. Each received an estimated $100 million.

Bob served on the board of EDF for 25 years. EDF president Fred Krupp observed: “Bob had a passion to get things done in the world. Widely read and blessed with a keen intellect, he had the ability to predict where the world was going, a talent that informed his investments and, in later years, his philanthropy … Always determined to find the greatest return, he challenged nonprofit groups to maximize their results. In doing so, he was often provocative, but eager to learn the counterarguments and quick to change his mind when the facts required.

Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU, said that The Legacy of Liberty Challenge established by Bob inspired “thousands of ACLU supporters to pledge over $200 million in legacy gifts”.

Known for his frugal habits, Bob seldom took a cab, preferring to get to his destination by subway. And, according to the New York Times, after he suffered a stroke and had to take a cab, “he was known to persuade one of his well-heeled neighbors to share the fare.”

“One of the dumbest things you can do with money”, he said in a 1979 Forbes magazine interview, “is spend it.”

Robert Warne Wilson was born in Detroit in 1926, the son of an insurance salesman. He graduated from Amherst with a degree in economics, earned a master’s in economics from the University of Michigan, briefly attended Michigan’s law school, then went to work on Wall Street.

Bob earned a fortune in the stock market as the founding partner of a hedge fund firm, Wilson & Associates, which he founded in 1969. He retired in 1986 and began giving away most of his wealth.

Six years ago he began giving money to the Catholic school system of the Archdiocese of New York, which he considered fundamentally more efficient than the public schools. Over the next several years he made more than $30 million in contributions, making him the Archdiocese’s largest donor.

Always one for transparency and openness, he felt obliged to disclose his status as a former Episcopalian turned atheist to the archbishop. In an interview with Philanthropy magazine he recalled an exchange with Cardinal Edward M. Egan, the former archbishop.

“Well, now that you’ve given all this money to our schools, I should try to convert you,” Wilson recalled the cardinal saying. “I said to him: “Well, Cardinal, if you do, I suppose I should try to convert you. The only problem is that if I succeed you’ll lose your job.”

Bob died on December 23, 2013 leaving a note indicating he had jumped to his death from his 16^th floor apartment.

According to the New York Times, Richard Schneidman, the executor of the Wilson estate, noted that “Bob was not the secretive type.” He said that even in the suicide note Bob insisted on a kind of full disclosure.

“The gist of it [the note] was that he had had a great life, and done all the things he wanted to, and that the way he chose to die was nothing to be ashamed of and shouldn’t be kept secret.”

Over the years we were privileged to see the work of this remarkable man first hand and so today we join with others in celebrating the extraordinary life legacy of Bob Wilson.

Roger and Tom

P.S. Newly appointed to my former role at EDF, my work benefited immediately from Bob’s challenging generosity when he made a six-figure gift to support our direct marketing efforts, with the firm stipulation that we use it to innovate. He viewed it as risk capital. Not your typical donor! Tom