Bill Gate's call to arms this week—his push to fellow philanthropists to give more during this downturn, not less, to the needy--is well-intended. But will others bite?
Gates, in his first public letter in his new role leading the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said Monday the foundation's assets dropped by one-fifth last year. Yet despite that, he said the group plans to increase 2009 spending to $3.8 billion—up a full 7 % of the foundation's assets and an increase from the $3.3 billion it spent in 2008. "...Although it will be difficult to keep aid-related issues on the front page during this crisis, we need to meet the challenge by making sure the success stories are told and making sure that inequity that is out of sight is not out of mind," Gates said. "I am impressed by individuals who continue to give generously even in these difficult times."
I may be a cynical journalist and, as New York Times colleague Nicholas Kristof wrote a few days ago, I agree the Gates Foundation missed the boat on leveraging the social enterpreneurship revolution. In a piece about Bill Gates that I wrote earlier this year for this site and MSNBC.COM, called Rockefeller 2.0, I quoted a variety of philanthropic leaders who were hoping Gates, after leaving Microsoft, would exert aggressive leadership over the changing philanthropy sector. "Bill Gates is now the face of philanthropy for the country, if not the world," Steve Gunderson, president of the 2,000-member Council on Foundations said. Like it or not, he said, "the Gateses will have an obligation to lead and deliver for decades to come." Added Rick Cohen, the former executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy: "One of every 10 foundation dollars spent is going to have the Gates name on it, and that gives [Gates and his foundation] an influence that is impossible to calculate."
It may be too early to tell whether any of the other top leaders in philanthropy will heed Gates' call. But for those Bill-watchers looking for signs that Gates is willing to step up to the plate, this one couldn't be missed.
What do you think?
