Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are challenging other billionaires to give away at least half their wealth to charity.
Buffett pledged 99 per cent of his $46 billion fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in 2006, and both Buffett and the Gateses are encouraging other billionaires to follow in their footsteps.
They call it the Giving Pledge.
The question is, will this campaign only focus on the good of giving, and not on the social good the donation achieves?
A campaign to give to charity often focuses only on the benefits the donor receives by way of tax benefits, and sees giving to charity as an end to itself.
But sometimes charity is not the best solution.
Charity has constraints in how innovative it can be in investing to provide solutions to social problems. There needs to be more focus on funding the vehicles best able to achieve change with the money given and not just on the act of giving.
Buffett and the Gateses say that this should be more than a donation commitment, and that billionaires should pledge to “give wisely and learn from their peers.” If the Giving Pledge truly wants “giving wisely” to be their aim, and they take Carnegie and the Rockefellers as inspiration, they will have to encourage billionaires to donate for the best social return.
Tags: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, billionaires, charitable giving, philanthropy, The Giving Pledge, Warren Buffett
Categories: Charity, People
Posted on July 6th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
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