The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to
philanthropic
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
s, and as of 2016, their pledges are estimated to total US$600 billion.
Description
The organization's stated goal is to inspire the wealthy people of the world to give at least half of their net worth to philanthropy, either during their lifetime or upon their death. The pledge is a public gesture of an intention to give, not a legal contract.
On The Giving Pledge's website, each individual or couple writes a letter explaining why they chose to give.
History
In June 2010, the Giving Pledge campaign was formally announced and
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
and
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
began recruiting members.
As of August 2010, the aggregate wealth of the first 40 pledgers was $125 billion.
As of April 2011, 69 billionaires had joined the campaign and given a pledge, and by the following year, ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' reported that a total of 81 billionaires had pledged. By May 2017, 158 individuals and/or couples were listed as pledgers.
[The Giving Pledge :: Pledger Profiles](_blank)
Retrieved 16 May 2017 Not all pledgers are billionaires.
List of pledgers
''Net worth is as of 2022 unless otherwise noted. A list of signatories is available online.''
See also
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Charity (practice)
The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion.
Etymology
The word ''charity'' or ...
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Charitable organization
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definitio ...
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Earning to give
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Effective altruism
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List of members of the ''Forbes'' 400
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Philanthrocapitalism
Philanthrocapitalism or philanthropic capitalism is a way of doing philanthropy, which mirrors the way that business is done in the for-profit world. It may involve venture philanthropy that actively invests in social programs to pursue specific p ...
* ''
The World's Billionaires
''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...
''
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Venture philanthropy
Venture philanthropy is a type of impact investment that takes concepts and techniques from venture capital finance and business management and applies them to achieving philanthropic goals. The term was first used in 1969 by John D. Rockefeller ...
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Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an effective altruism-associated organisation whose members pledge to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities. It was founded at Oxford University in 2009 by the philosopher Toby Ord, physician-in- ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Giving Pledge
Organizations established in 2010
Philanthropic organizations based in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Washington (state)
Buffett family
2010 establishments in the United States