‘Newsweek’: Challenges for Philanthropy

In a special January-February edition examining key issues of the coming year, Newsweek asks business and nonprofit leaders to reflect on doing good.

In excerpts from a roundtable discussion, four people who have been designated by the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, as Global Leaders for Tomorrow offer their views on corporate social responsibility. Tim Shriver, president of Special Olympics, tells the magazine, “What we’re seeing is a breakdown of the dichotomy between for-profits and not-for-profits. They’re supposed to be completely different — one efficient, the other good. Now people are demanding that other types of institutions blend their values. But we haven’t yet thought through what all this means. We see situations where corporate pronouncements say, we’re going to do X, Y, and Z with Special Olympics. And then we hear that employees are getting punished for not spending enough time with clients or enough time selling. And in our world, we haven’t thought through all the implications of becoming more tough-minded about business decisions.”

In an essay, Bill and Melinda Gates explain why they are devoting much of their philanthropy to distributing vaccines to children in developing countries, and encourage other donors to join their mission. “Vaccines cannot work their magic without a global effort,” they write. “Parents, world leaders, health workers, businesses, and foundations can and should work together, because we all want the same thing for our children. We have decided that we can’t fully enjoy our children’s health and freedom from these terrible diseases while there are so many parents who are denied that joy.”