Forty US billionaires have now signed up to the Giving Pledge, the campaign launched by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to invite America’s wealthiest citizens to give the majority of their money to charitable causes. The first group of 40 was announced in August, around six weeks after the Giving Pledge was launched. "We’ve really just started, but already we`ve had a terrific response," says Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
"At its core, the Giving Pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used. We`re delighted that so many people are doing just that – and that so many have decided to not only take this pledge but also to commit to sums far greater than the 50% minimum level," he adds.
Bea Devlin, head of international at the Charities Aid Foundation, comments: “It’s great news that 40 billionaires have now joined Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffett's ‘Giving Pledge’. We estimate that if all of the billionaires based in the UK decided to give over half of their wealth to charity then this would result in at least an additional £60bn going to good causes, which would go a long way to solving some of the world’s most pressing problems.”
However, the tradition of giving and philanthropy is very different in the UK from the US, comments Eleanor Shaw, Reader in Marketing at the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP). “UK donors can and do give, but not so publicly. One of the major strengths of the Giving Pledge is the network it provides for the extremely wealthy to discuss giving and the benefits it brings them. We do have networks like the Entrepreneurial Exchange in Scotland and the venture philanthropy fund ‘Enlight’ it has established for its members. While this involves the pooling of funds rather than individual philanthropists expressing the intention to give and selecting their own vehicles, it can work in a similar way by providing a forum for the wealthy individuals to exchange ideas about philanthropy – they are the best advocates.”
Buffett and Gates say they accept that the Giving Pledge is not necessarily appropriate for other countries. However, their trip to Beijing to meet with 50 Chinese leaders in business and philanthropy to discuss charitable giving exceeded Buffett's expectations, he said in a press conference on Thursday (30th September).
“We’ve more than met our own expectations,” Buffett said. “When we met with those 50 people last night, I had no idea what sort of reception we would receive but it couldn’t have been better.”
Preparing for their trip to China, they made it clear their purpose was not to try to impose the initiative on China’s wealthy.
“We know that the Giving Pledge is just one approach to philanthropy, and we do not know if it's the right path forward for China. Some people have wondered if we're coming to China to pressure people to give. Not at all,” they wrote in a letter to the Xinhua news agency.
“Our trip is fundamentally about learning, listening, and responding to those who express an interest in our own experiences. China's circumstances are unique, and so its approach to philanthropy will be, as well."
The pair said that this was a particularly important moment in China’s history. “The present generation of successful entrepreneurs has an opportunity to set an example for future generations in China. It is very likely they will have a substantial impact on how large scale philanthropy grows and develops in modern China.”
Meanwhile, Xinhua reported that Chinese multi-millionaire Chen Guangbiao will leave his entire fortune – some $440m (£278m) according to the Hurun Rich List – to charity after his death, and that he has convinced more than 100 other industrialists to give away their personal wealth. "Although the pledge makers do not want to be exposed to the media, I give my sincere respect to their charity spirit," it quotes him as saying.
The 2009 Hurun Rich List reports that there are 130 US dollar billionaires in China. Yu Pengnian, 88, became the first Chinese philanthropist to break the billion dollar barrier in April, when he announced that he had donated his remaining fortune amounting to $470m (£297m) of cash and property assets into the Yu Pengnian Foundation, bringing the value of the HK-registered fund to $1.2 bn (£760m)
However, there is a “deep-rooted concept among wealthy individuals in China to leave their entire fortunes to their descendants, which might be a major obstacle to charities attracting donations,” Zhang Yinjun, spokesperson with one of China's largest charity organisation, the China Charity Federation, told the news agency.
