June 17, 1999 | Read Time: 4 minutes
President Clinton, speaking today at the first-ever White House conference on charitable giving, said he would ask the federal government to take several steps that could give a boost to philanthropy in America.
Mr. Clinton said that government officials need to think about “whether we can do more things and generate a more constructive philanthropy.” To that end, he said he would:
- Ask his Council of Economic Advisers to study the role of philanthropy in the American economy — “and how they believe I can increase it.” Mr. Clinton said the council would analyze trends in charitable giving, such as assessing the probable effect on philanthropy of the retirement in coming years of the generation of baby boomers.
- Establish a federal “interagency task force” to strengthen the “philanthropic partnership between the government and non-profit groups and citizens.”
- Direct officials of the Treasury Department to meet with representatives of non-profit organizations next month to discuss federal policies. The President did not elaborate on what changes might be considered.
ALSO SEE:
The full text of the President’s remarks.
White House press release on the conference.
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“We all begin by accepting that we no longer believe that there is a choice out there — which was never a real choice — between government meeting all of our society’s needs and government walking away from them all and letting philanthropy do it,” Mr. Clinton said. “We have to have a better partnership, and it will work better if we do.”
The afternoon event — called the White House Conference on Philanthropy: Gifts to the Future — was moderated by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. About 150 donors, charity executives, and others were in attendance, while thousands of other people watched part of the conference via satellite at more than 3,000 sites around the country.
Mrs. Clinton told the conference that that she and the President planned the event to try to “magnify and spur the philanthropic spirit of all our citizens in the new millennium.” She said their focus was on giving by individuals, rather than by foundations or corporations.
To help illustrate the conference’s themes, the White House showed a videotape of “heroes” who have given their time or money to help a cause.
“There has never been a better time for philanthropy than today,” said Mrs. Clinton, who noted that the country’s good economy has enriched many in recent years and that the Baby Boom generation stands to inherit trillions of dollars in coming years.
“Just imagine what revolutionary progress we could bring to America, how many lives we could change, if every American family increased their giving by just 1 per cent of their income,” the First Lady said.
“We could offer child care to more than six million children, we could deliver 250 million more meals to the homebound elderly, we could guarantee Head Start to every low-income preschooler in America,” she said. “We could provide shelter to four million people. We could save all the rare books in our libraries — and still have more than enough money left over to create the equivalent of the Ford Foundation each year.”
To spur such an increase in giving, Mrs. Clinton said that “philanthropy must be taught,” adding:
“Let us find innovative ways to cultivate the innately generous spirit of our young people. New communities of donors must be asked to participate. We have to find ways to embrace and encourage philanthropists of all races, ethnicities, and colors. New avenues of giving must be opened and explored, so we have to utilize the rich possibilities of cyberspace and the information age.”
Although Mr. Clinton described himself as “technologically challenged,” he joined the First Lady in encouraging charities to use the Internet to raise their profiles.
“We ought to think about new opportunities — I think the buzz word is portals — that are opening in the world of on-line philanthropy,” the President said. He urged participants to think about “how we can make sure that we can continue not only to increase the volume of money but to broaden the base of giving.”
