Philanthropy as a future of basic science funding?

If the federal government is reluctant to fund basic science, at least we are getting a little help from some enlightened benefactors. One such person is Fred Kavli who was recently profiled in the following New York Times article. He has given money to establish centers of research in nanoscience, neuroscience, and cosmology. Kavli also has the clever idea of awarding $1 million prizes in these areas to draw media attention to basic science. Another idea I admire very much is prize postdoc fellowship sponsored by Neil Pappalardo. The money allows the awarded MIT postdocs to pursue their own independent research. I think the idea is similar to the Harvard Society of Fellows but the Pappalardo Fellowships are restricted to MIT physics postdocs.