Wealthy Donors Are Changing Face of Philanthropy

The richest of the rich are giving more and giving quickly, reports The Christian Science Monitor as part of its annual guide to philanthropic giving.

A crop of mega-donors including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, eBay founders Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll, and Ted Turner have given considerable sums of their vast fortunes to a variety of causes ranging from AIDS to nuclear disarmament to the United Nations.

There are now 8 million American millionaires and the number of family foundations has risen by 60 percent over the past six years. Nonprofit groups have doubled to more than 1 million within the past five years.

Nevertheless, overall giving has remained stable, at 2 percent of the gross national product.

Many people in the nonprofit world are hopeful that trend will change with the current wave of large-scale philanthropy. They also hope that the new donors will not just give large sums, but also push for changes in how philanthropy operates.

Says Tom Watson of the philanthropic-consulting firm Changing Our World, “Philanthropy has tended to be a quiet, hidebound sector. The leaders now coming in are shaking things up—and that’s a good thing.”