Big Money
A good thing about rich people is that they tend to be competitive. Which is why they're rich and why, in America, they're generous. Let me digress for a moment: in America, people don't think about whether or not to give. They just give. Everyone does. And they compete over it.
So unless the Ukraine/Switzerland match paralysed some key cognitive parts of your brain (understandable) you'll have seen that a famously rich yet frugal man has given 85% of his fortune away, most of it to the genuinely progressive Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
An indication of the clout of his £20 billion: it would keep the UN going for the next 10 years.
Also today it was announced that a wealthy 39-year-old Brit is responsible for the most generous grant-giving organisation in the UK. Apparently he set up his hedge fund to give half of its annual assets to children's charities in order to motivate himself.
Will such announcements start a trend? Simon Jenkins thinks so, and is well worth reading.
posted by David Pitchford @ 8:04 AM
10 Comments:
Totally agree with what you wrote (I have to, as my post is about the same topic - great minds must think alike ;-) )!
However don't you agree that the media generally always looks at the downside at such greats acts of giving? Never satisfied always wanting more or the "real story"? Leaving many people & businesses loathed to becoming a target? Sometimes its even the charities who always want more more more...
Louise, thanks for the note. Great minds indeed ;) I think the sad truth is that we are bombarded by so many news stories, not to mention media message in general, that writers will do whatever they can to lift their story above the noise. And if that means sensationalising, that's what they'll do. We all do it from time to time *cough*.
Hehe...fundraisers sensationalise ..never ;-)
But to follow on from this the news today from CAF charity trends shows that bigger charities are just getting bigger. (No surprise there) but I believe its a worrying sign. If philanthropist also become caught in the "donate to the well known causes only" much of the pioneering work will get lost at grassroots level, along with choice. The danger will be then that fundraising and charities will become uniformed and bland.
The Warren Buffett gift has electrfied my colleagues in the foundation field. It's lovely to contemplate what a progressive foundation might be able to accomplish if it gives away $3.2 billion in grants each year.
By the way, thank you for your very charitable assessment of American charity. My apologies if you've alreay taken up the issue in a previous post, but I wonder if we Americans are charitable in part because government in the U.S. has, at all levels, failed in its responsibilities to those who are in greatest need. The current national administration has been especially rabid in its hatred of government.
Albert makes a very good point. There's a strong argument for saying that in some ways we should be proud that giving levels in Britain are so much lower than in the US. It's a sign that we still have confidence in our government - we don't feel we have to do it all ourselves.
That's not, of course, a reason for any individual not to give, but it might explain statistical trends.
I think the welfare culture in Britain explains why there is such a big gap between UK and US giving. I agree that our government has done us proud in supporting the Third Sector but I still argue that UK Donors need to dig deeper in their pockets. I used to be a trustee of a small charity and I know the support from local government will dry up eventually - everything is being squeezed. The only future for small and medium charities is to garner support from individual donors. Britains need to get over their bashfullness and follow the example of their US counterparts.
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Would anyone like to donate items they do not use nor want anymore, for the less fortunate people of Africa?
I know this site may not supposed to be used for this reason, but it is supposed to be used for people who need help with something, and I need your help.
I'm fifteen years old and I travel with my parents for their work, so we are constantly on the move. Now we are in Morocco Africa, and I have finally decided something I would like to do, and it is to give homeless people as much as I can, but I need your help. Rooming the streets of Morocco, is honestly scarrryy to death, and sad of course, there are people all over the streets laying in the pavement and sometimes even with children on their lap asking for help.
I have realized I can do so much, but not with so little, so I want you to look through thing you do not use anymore and do not want, it can be anything, I would love as much appreal things as possible however.
Anything will do however, because everything you do not use at home, people that are less fortunate will use in theres'.
By the way, this is not a spam, and I would greatly appreciate people more if they stop saying that it is.
If you would like to help, then thank you, if you do not then keep your comments to your self.
You know a comment may just be filled with a bunch of words, but to the people here and everywhere else I have been, they are quite hurtful, even for me, because I see this everyday.
Anyways back to the point, if you would like to help and donate things you do not use or need anymore, and remember it can be anything, then email me in the address below, and I will give you the necessary information and I will also answer any questions that you have, Oh and I do not accept money, it is unnecceary, I just want the stuff you do not want to give it to people who need it is all.
Thanks for your time, hope to hear from you soon, and those who want to help, you are thanked from us all.
My parents travel a lot like I said in the beginning, and now we are currently in Morocco, Africa for a while and that is why I am asking for your help in this country. It really would be nice of anyone to just offer, something if anything, please and thank you.
Email me, please.
kbelakziz@iqacademymn.org
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