Spend it? Invest it? Donate it? Start your own charity? Leave it to family in your will?
For 403 American billionaires & thousands more around the world, this is a real decision. What will they do?
Gates and Buffet initiative, June 2010 Calling the world’s billionaires to give minimum of half their wealth to charity Giving Pledge doesn’t accept money Billionaires aren’t told where to donate Not a contract, instead a moral commitment Billionaires must publicly state their intention to give So far, 40 have pledged!
Two billionaires going to sell the Giving Pledge idea of giving to china’s richest. 2 nd largest number of billionaires in China
Challenges donors to give more than ever imagined Gates & Buffet: 2 nd & 3 rd wealthiest in the world ($53 & $47 billion respectively) They are very influential among the wealthy At a min., $600 billion donated if entire Forbes 400 Richest List pledges- extreme shift in giving Inspirational to the public
Can charities effectively manage and distribute these billions? Potential drop in public donations? Is this guilt-induced giving? Does that even matter, as long as money is being donated?
Use major donors to challenge other major donors. Peer pressure works! Growing trend of wealthy individuals creating own foundations i.e. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation approach these foundations for funding
Carol Goar. “Goar: Mega Donations Pose Deep Problems.” The Toronto Star. 11 Aug pose-deep-questions pose-deep-questions thegivingpledge.org “40 U.S. Billionaires Accept Gates, Buffet Giving Challenge.” 4 Aug Stephen Simpson. “Is the Billionaire Charity Pledge a Good Idea?” Financial Edge. 12 Aug Good-Idea.aspxhttp://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/Is-The-Giving-Pledge-A- Good-Idea.aspx Paulette Maehara. “The Gates-Buffet Billionaire Challenge.” 17 June Elisa Birnbaum. “I Pledge: Making the most by giving it away.” 23 Aug “Gates, Buffet to wine and dine China’s super rich.” The Globe and Mail. 8 Sept Print. Luisa Kroll, Matthew Miller. 10 Mar “The World’s Billionaires.” billionaires-2010_land.htmlhttp:// billionaires-2010_land.html Michelle Nichols. “US Billionaires Pledge Fortunes to Charity.” Reuters. 4 Aug