A Major Philanthropist’s Giving Comes Under Fire

Giving by the billionaire Pierre Omidyar and his grant-making organization, the Omidyar Network, has come under attack by several nonprofit leaders in a frank online discussion that started Friday.

Ami Dar, founder of the Idealist Web site for nonprofit organizations, accused the network of treating potential beneficiaries unfairly in a letter he put on omidyar.net, an Internet message board established by the Omidyar Network.

While he said that donors often treat possible grant recipients less than respectfully, the Omidyar Network has gone too far by practically promising money, but then canceling meetings with charities and not returning e-mail messages or phone calls, until eventually the contribution is denied.

“You guys need to STOP doing this. Give people a Yes or No, but do not lead them on like this. Please,” wrote Mr. Dar, who is the founder of Action Without Borders, a nonprofit group that has sought support from the Omidyar Network.

A representative of the Omidyar Network, in Redwood City, Calif., responded with a message in the forum that thanked Mr. Dar for his “candor” and said, “At Omidyar Network, we try to be as straight forward and fair as possible with our potential investees. Yes, our response times to incoming calls and e-mails can and should be faster, and we’re working to do better.”

Several people on the Web site supported Mr. Dar, while others praised Mr. Omidyar, saying his network’s philanthropy was still under development and therefore required patience from charities.

Mr. Omidyar, who is the founder of the Internet auction site eBay, has taken a decidedly different approach to giving than traditional donors by supporting nonprofit and for-profit ventures. He also created omidyar.net to bring together people online to share ideas about how to help solve the world’s social ills.

This is not the first time Mr. Omidyar’s philanthropy has come under fire. In 2004, several nonprofit leaders expressed frustration with his organization’s grant-making process, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported.

To learn more about Mr. Dar’s charitable efforts, read the Chronicle profile of him.

(A paid subscription is required to view the Chronicle articles.)