Embracing the Bully Pulpit

As part of his growing role as a global philanthropic leader, the software mogul Bill Gates is encouraging governments, foundations, and the wealthy to give more in 2009 as the faltering economy hurts charitable causes and the world’s poor. In a letter to the public and in interviews with reporters, Mr. Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pushed donors to follow his foundation’s lead: The Gates fund plans to increase its giving by $500-million this year, to $3.8-billion. The foundation is taking that step even though its assets dropped 20 percent in the past year, Mr. Gates said.

“The wealthy have a responsibility to invest in addressing inequity,” he wrote in his letter to the public, which he said he hoped to write annually to update people on what his foundation has been doing. “This is especially true when the constraints on others are so great.”

In a phone call with reporters, Mr. Gates said he hoped other foundations would follow his lead. “Each one should take a hard look at having a higher payout,” he said.

But Mr. Gates said he did not think the federal government should change its policies and require grant makers to give more during a recession, as some charity advocates have argued.

He urged foundations to stop worrying that spending big sums now would threaten their ability to operate indefinitely, and said that should not be a reason for withholding grants this year.

“I’m not that big on foundations needing to last forever,” he said.

(The Gates foundation, in Seattle, will close 50 years after the death of the last of its three trustees — Mr. Gates, his wife, Melinda, and Warren E. Buffett.)

Pressing Governments to Do More

In his 11-page letter, Mr. Gates also pushed the United States and other rich countries to increase foreign aid to Africa and other developing areas of the world.

Notably, he even pointed out one country — Italy — that had cut its aid budget. “I don’t think this is because Italians care less about the issues,” he wrote, “so I’m hopeful the government will find a way to restore this funding” later this year.

During the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, where he announced last month that his foundation would award $34-million to combat hookworm and other tropical diseases, he reiterated his concern that philanthropy would suffer because of the financial crisis.

“Our work together to help the world’s poor is more important in the face of this global financial crisis,” he said.

In the past, Mr. Gates has been somewhat reluctant to be a spokesman for philanthropy. But since leaving his full-time position at Microsoft last summer, he appears to have embraced the bully pulpit to sway public opinion. He described the letter as his “best effort” to create a conversation with the public.

“I’m going to get a lot of people saying, Hey, you should be doing things differently, or Hey, did you know about this great approach, or Why aren’t you giving to this? And it will be very helpful to us,” he said.

The letter outlined his foundation’s goals for 2009 and offered a candid assessment of where it has fallen short in its programs, which include efforts to improve global health and development, and American education.

Borrowing Warren Buffett’s Approach

Mr. Gates said he will write similar letters every January, and his wife, Melinda, will appear in videos on the Gates Web site each fall to provide updates on how the wealthiest grant maker in America is performing.

The annual letter was inspired by Mr. Buffett, the financier and Gates foundation donor.

Mr. Buffett is well-known for his frank messages to stockholders of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, and Mr. Gates said that he plans to emulate his style, somewhat.

“I won’t be quoting Mae West or trying to match his humor, but I will try to be equally candid,” he wrote.

The letter is available on the Gates foundation’s Web site.