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The latest fad in philanthropy is making it much less effective
Foundation: Boston Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation
When Bill Gates asked his former wife and ex-wife-turned-philanthropist Mackenzie Scott why she was giving away so much of her husband's fortune, Scott had this to say: "People are most credulous when they are most happy and when much money has been made, when some people are really making it, there is a happy opportunity for ingenious mendacity."
Scott, the former wife of Jeff Bezos, has given away most of her husband's fortune to groups led by people who have "lived experience," and the money is "completely unrestricted," the New York Times reports.
"It's equally important to place trust in the people and organizations we partner with and let them define success on their own terms," Gates recently wrote in a letter to Scott.
He's not the only one taking a similar approach.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently ran a piece headlined "The Dark Side of Billionaire Philanthropy" in which Walter Bagehot wrote that "philanthropists who shoved large sums out the door in response to the murder of George Floyd seem to have few regrets, despite accusations of squandering tens of millions on private security vacation homes on charter flights."
A professor at the University of Washington tells the Times that experts on philanthropy are lining up to
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Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Is Corporate Philanthropy Dead?
Senay Ataselim-Yilmaz, Chief Operating Officer, Turkish Philanthropy Funds, writes that philanthropy often solves the very problems that stems from market failure. Some social issues, however, cannot be tackled by questioning the return on investment.