The Giving Pledge Nabs a New Billionaire Commitment

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2010-07-17 09:57:00 UTC
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Almost certainly the biggest story in philanthropy in 2010 is the public launch of the Giving Pledge, a campaign to get the world's billionaires to commit to giving away at least 50% of their wealth. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has become the latest to take the commitment, and will give away at least half of his approximately $13.5 billion fortune.

The Giving Pledge was announced last month with a major piece in Fortune magazine. Over the last year, Bill & Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett have been organizing within their communities of extreme wealth to try to figure out how to increase giving among the rich.

After a number of conversations, they settled on a pledge as the best way to inspire new commitments. The campaign has major added heft because of the leadership of the Gates family and Buffett. The Gates' have pledged to give 90% of their wealth away while Buffett has pledged 99%.

More than those pledges, however, they are living examples of the sort of commitment they want to inspire. Bill Gates primary focus is the foundation. Buffett has written eloquently about his belief that his wealth is largely attributable to a 'genetic lottery' that gave him a talent for picking stocks.

Paul Allen, Gates' co-founder at Microsoft, is already an involved philanthropist, having given away more than $1 billion previously. Still, his commitment would multiply that giving by a factor of 7.

Allen's philanthropy has been largely focused on scientific research and support for initiatives near his home in the Pacific Northwest. His most significant commitment so far has been to the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a nonprofit research center trying to push the field of brain science.

Allen joins a list that includes not only the Gates family and Warren Buffett, but Eli and Edyth Broad, John and Ann Doerr, and more. We'll continue to keep track of commitments, as well as to share the questions, ideas, excitement, and concern that people have about the campaign.

For further reading, I highly suggest this amazing piece by new Change.org writer and social and tech entrepreneur Ryan Allis.

Photo credit: papalars

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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