Wealthy Donors Urged to Think Globally and Give Until 'It Hurts'

By Maria Di Mento

Wealthy philanthropists and donors of average means today have unprecedented opportunities to improve the lives of poor people in the United States and around the world, Bill Clinton, the former president, said on Monday at a conference here to honor the donors who appear on The Chronicle's annual list of the most-generous contributors in America.

"It is impossible to overstate the impact private giving will have on public good," said Mr. Clinton at the conference, held at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, in Little Rock, Ark. The conference was sponsored by the Clinton Foundation, Slate magazine, and the University of Arkansas's School of Public Service. Slate magazine publishes The Chronicle's list each year in a feature known as the Slate 60.

Mr. Clinton said that as he collected donations after the South Asia tsunamis for a fund he started with George H.W. Bush, the former president, and again after Katrina he was struck by the way that the Internet had made it so easy for people of small means to give amounts that added up to a lot of money. "These average people now have as much power as the wealthiest philanthropists," he said.

But he urged the wealthy donors in the room to focus their giving on the challenges posed by globalism, oil dependency, and terrorism and to avoid arrogance.

"The mission of humanity, clearly, is to build up the positive interdependence of peoples," said Mr. Clinton, who urged the philanthropists to support projects that produce "more partners" for the United States, and "less terrorists."

He said that a mixture of philanthropy and investment by business leaders has made an "enormous" difference in the developing world, and cited the work of Muhammad Yunus, who started the Grameen Bank, which provides small loans to poor people, and entrepreneurs who have made it possible for many poor people in Africa to have cellphones.

"There is no shortage of intelligence, ability, or effort in the developing world," said Mr. Clinton, but there is a shortage of infrastructure that would make it possible for most people in developing countries to improve their lives, so it is the philanthropists and business endeavors of people like Mr. Yunus, and others, said Mr. Clinton, that do the most to help the world's poor.

"Building functioning systems is very, very important and entrepreneurial giving can do it," said Mr. Clinton

Mr. Clinton told the philanthropists to think about how hard it would have been for them to earn their fortunes without the help of reliable access to electricity, healthy food, and clean water, and then to think about the people they are trying to help.

"Philanthropy is a word rooted in love, right?," he said. "It is not patronizing, it is the obligation to reach for the self evident. When you do it, remember to do it with humility."

He also said that while international giving is important, he believed that it was vital for philanthropists and policy makers to focus on ways to build equality among Americans.

Philanthropy v. Government

Also at the conference, New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, laid out what he saw as the five key things that philanthropy can accomplish.

Mr. Bloomberg, who ranked No. 8 on last year's list by giving away $144-million, said that since governments can't spend their own money on unproven programs, private donations make it possible for nonprofit groups to try innovative, and sometimes even risky approaches in their work.

Secondly, he said, philanthropists have the freedom to give to causes, such as stem-cell research, something Mr. Bloomberg says he has supported with his personal giving, that might not be politically popular. The third is simply that private donors have a lot more money to give to charities than do governments so they can make more of a difference, and fourth, philanthropy not only gives private donors a chance to focus on supporting causes or improving institutions they hold dear, it also acts "as a saving grace of overlooked causes," said Mr. Bloomberg.

Finally, Mr. Bloomberg said, philanthropy encourages the next generation of donors.

"All of us at one time or another have been inspired by individuals throughout history who demonstrated charity and foresight. Now it's our turn to inspire," he said.

Ted Turner, the founder of Cable News Network, and Turner Broadcasting, who ranked No. 15 on last year's most-generous donors list, said he has taken to heart the importance of inspiring others to give.

He is, in fact, the reason that several publications have started ranking donors for their philanthropy. As Mr. Turner's fortunes grew, he decided that he wanted to give away a big chunk of his fortune to solve what he saw as the world's biggest problems. In 1997, he set philanthropy records by pledging $1-billion to a foundation that supports the United Nations — making what was then the single biggest pledge by a philanthropist.

"I wanted to have a shot at being the richest man in the world, and I knew when I gave that money away I was taking myself out of the running to be the richest. I knew that Forbes 400 list made me think twice about giving that money away," said Mr. Turner.

So Mr. Turner suggested the news organizations start making lists of people who give the most money away, in the hopes of fueling a competition among donors who give away the most money.

Now, says Mr. Turner, he has gotten so used to donating money and taking other steps to make the world better, that. "I've become an irrepressible giver," noting that he turns off lights wherever he is and picks up trash to protect the environment.

He urged others to do the same, telling wealthy people that they should give more than they might think they can afford..

"If you don't make it big enough that it hurts," Mr. Turner said, "than you haven't done anything."