Fellow Billionaires: Let's Listen to the Poor
One of the biggest fallacies of philanthropy is the expectation that money will solve everything and that more money equals greater results. Trillions of dollars are spent globally on social and environmental issues, and very few problems have been solved. Why is that?
We’ve been focused on the wrong things. Our assumptions, traditions, and self-interest have made us lose sight of what it means to do philanthropy in the true sense of the word. Philanthropy should be about serving humanity and giving people what they need — not what we think they need or what feels good to give, like putting our names on buildings or giving to institutions that are already rich.
To truly change the world, we need to make significant adjustments — to our mind-sets, our motivations, our attitudes, our ways of thinking, and even our business models. Like several other billionaires, I have pledged to give most of my wealth away. As I do it, I am trying to follow these principles:
Value and success should be based on results, not dollars.
Philanthropy today is judged almost entirely. . .Read more here.
We’ve been focused on the wrong things. Our assumptions, traditions, and self-interest have made us lose sight of what it means to do philanthropy in the true sense of the word. Philanthropy should be about serving humanity and giving people what they need — not what we think they need or what feels good to give, like putting our names on buildings or giving to institutions that are already rich.
To truly change the world, we need to make significant adjustments — to our mind-sets, our motivations, our attitudes, our ways of thinking, and even our business models. Like several other billionaires, I have pledged to give most of my wealth away. As I do it, I am trying to follow these principles:
Value and success should be based on results, not dollars.
Philanthropy today is judged almost entirely. . .Read more here.
