quotes on philanthropy

[jenk]

Living in Seattle it's fairly common to see stuff on the Bill & Melinda's pet funding program in the media. One thing I've always liked about the Gates Foundation is its focus on results & how the money is being used. Or to quote from the Time Persons of the Year article:

"He wants to know where every penny goes," says Bono, whose DATA got off the ground with a Gates Foundation grant. "Not because those pennies mean so much to him, but because he's demanding efficiency....[W]hen Bill Gates says you can fix malaria in 10 years, they know he's done a few spreadsheets."

I also like this excerpt, which sums up the practical approach:

Think globally. Act carefully. Prove what works. Then use whatever levers you have to get it done.

The challenge of "stupid poverty"--the people who die for want of a $2 pill because they live on $1 a day--was enough to draw Gates away from Microsoft years before he intended to shift his focus from making money to giving it away. He and Melinda looked around and recognized a systems failure. "Those lives were being treated as if they weren't valuable," Gates told FORTUNE in 2002. "Well, when you have the resources that could make a very big impact, you can't just say to yourself, 'O.K., when I'm 60, I'll get around to that. Stand by.'"

I grew up with Sally Struthers doing her bit on late-night infomericals. It's funny: the more emotional a charity appeal is, the less likely I am to respond. But then, I don't expect ads to be impartial either....