Clinton Meeting Concludes With Billions of Dollars Promised to Aid the World’s Poor

Former President Bill Clinton wrapped up his third annual Clinton Global Initiative Friday by announcing that 245 people, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and governments had committed to devote money or time to solving big problems facing the world.

“This has become what I hoped it would be: an action-forcing event with a lot of ideas, not just responding to ideas but coming up with ideas about how to change the playing field for the future,” the ex-president said.

The scale of this year’s charitable giving and socially responsible investing seemed to far outpace previous years, although the William J. Clinton Foundation did not place a dollar value on pledges.

Philanthropic donors pledged to give, and nonprofit groups said they would raise, in excess of $1.5-billion. Companies said they would invest more than $10-billion in business schemes to help alleviate global problems. An additional $130,000 was raised through Mr. Clinton’s new Web site, MyCommitment.org.

Some of the pledges were designed to help nonprofit groups generate buzz and raise money. For example, Mr. Clinton announced that YouTube, the video Web site, would create a special section for charities that would enable them to upload videos and collect donations free of charge. The pledge was valued at $20-million.

Other donors pledged to develop new ways to raise money. The Good Night Foundation, in partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World and Passport Resorts, pledged to collect $3 a night from people who stay at affiliated hotels with a goal of raising $3-million for charitable works in its first year. Hotel guests would have a chance to opt out of the program.

Future Plans

In concluding this year’s meeting, Mr. Clinton also announced big plans to expand the conference’s impact in the future.

In addition to holding a similar meeting in Asia next spring, and giving people the chance to contribute online, Mr. Clinton said he wants to take the Clinton Global Initiative effort to college campuses. The former president said he wanted to create “CGI-U’s” to encourage college students to pledge money and time to solving global problems. The first “CGI-U” conference would be held at Tulane University, in New Orleans, Mr. Clinton said.

“Getting young people into this at an early age is very important,” said Mr. Clinton. “I want every high school in America to have its own NGO, and every college in America to have its own CGI. It would change the face of philanthropy and the face of America.”

The Clinton foundation’s annual summit in Manhattan has become a coveted destination for nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, despite its sometimes schmaltzy style of celebrating do-gooders and those who pledge to support them. At the end of each panel, donors and nonprofit workers are invited on stage to receive a certificate and a photograph with Mr. Clinton or the session’s organizer.

But nonprofit and philanthropic leaders praised the forum as a way to mingle and make connections with a hugely diverse group of people, one that includes heads of state, celebrities, religious leaders, and social entrepreneurs, among others.

“It’s a great opportunity to stand up and show what you’re doing and get others to join you,” said Brenda Musilli, president of the Intel Foundation, which announced a $300-million commitment toward an online teacher-training program. Ms. Musilli said the event provided her with a chance to talk with heads of state of countries where she hoped to expand the program, as well as with nonprofit workers whom she might work alongside in the future.

For James Gordon, founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, an education nonprofit that helps people recover from traumatic events, the forum was an opportunity to share his experiences in the field and help discuss best practices.

“It’s a chance to talk with philanthropists about what works,” said Dr. Gordon, who had just wrapped up a roundtable discussion with the minister of education of Kenya, the fashion-designer Eileen Fisher, and an executive from Motorola, among others. “I’m sold.”

For more on the Clinton Global Initiative, read The Chronicle’s coverage of the opening day and Thursday’s sessions.