Clinton Meeting Raises $9.4-Billion

Former president Bill Clinton’s annual philanthropy meeting, which was held in New York last week, raised more than $9.4-billion in philanthropic gifts and other types of charitable commitments.

While organizers of the event had predicted the bad economy would hamper pledges this year, the amount is larger than in 2008, when Mr. Clinton generated $8-billion.

The commitments can take many forms, including changes in corporate practices that have an environmental benefit, which the donor provides an estimated dollar value to. This means that the dollar figure represents some cash in hand as well as money that needs to be generated in some fashion.

In total, Mr. Clinton estimates that since 2005 his conference has garnered $57-billion to fight social and environmental problems.

The former president prides himself on the fact that the meeting does not invite participants to return if they do not make a commitment. According to an official with the Clinton Global Initiative, four people who attended last year’s meeting had not fulfilled the requirement in the days leading up to last week’s event.

Under pressure from Mr. Clinton’s group, they made contributions before its opening session, with one actually physically barred from entering the meeting until he or she made a commitment.

(The Clinton organization did not identify the tardy donors.)

As with last year’s event, Mr. Clinton is trying to create more so-called mega-commitments, in which a large number of donors and charities come together around a single cause. The former president has argued that too many philanthropists, corporations, and nonprofit groups fail to coordinate their efforts, thus minimizing their ability to help people.

The causes include:

• Helping women and girls in poor countries get an education and other assistance. As part of this, the Nike Foundation announced it would award $2-million over five years to establish an academy to train young women in Bangladesh to be nurses.

• Preventing human trafficking. As part of this, Humanity United, an organization created by the philanthropist Pam Omidyar, said it would form a coalition of donors interested in ending slavery worldwide.

• Providing aid to Haiti. Among the pledges: Habitat for Humanity International said it would build homes for 1,500 families and train people in ways to mitigate the damage caused by hurricanes.

Other notable philanthropic efforts announced at the event include:

• King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia promised $30-million to the global effort to eradicate polio. He also said the kingdom would expand its program that seeks to vaccinate from polio every visitor during the Hajj, the trip to Mecca that Muslims are required to make.

• The Omidyar Network, which was established by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, promised to invest $30-million in small and midsize businesses in Africa and India.

• Three technology companies — Cisco, Intel, and Microsoft — said they would work with the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide Kenyan schools with 6,000 computers and train teachers in how to use them in the classroom. The businesses estimated the project to be valued at $9-million.