When I wrote two weeks ago (was the election really only two weeks ago?), the election outcome actually was uncertain. Not now. Thank you Bill Press for raising important questions about the significance of the election, and Van Jones for capturing in this viral video why the Biden/Harris election matters.
Philanthropy also matters. Last week’s Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) National Philanthropy Day “offered an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of charitable giving and the spirit that makes such generosity possible.” This is at the heart of the CCC’s Charitable Standard, with the understanding that generosity starts with gratitude, which in turn flows from humility, i.e., my financial wealth is not purely the result of my superior acumen, talent, brains, or skill.
I was honored by AFP’s Palm Beach County chapter to give this year’s keynote address (edited down to six minutes). This was entering the belly of the beast: talking about the Crisis Charitable Commitment in Palm Beach, home (or second home) to more than 30 billionaires on the Forbes 400 list. There are only about 8000 people who live on Palm Beach island–4 out of a 100 are Forbes 400 billionaires!
To be the lowest person on the Forbes 400 totem pole you need to have $2.1 billion. Under CCC’s Charitable Standard, this level of assets would require charitable contributions of $72 million (about 3.5% of net worth). Keep in mind: Billionaires have seen their income grow by 10% per year for at least a decade, which means this level of giving doesn’t even begin to touch the accumulated wealth.
This fact published by Inequality.org sticks out in my mind: “$4.9 billion – the cost this year, says UN food director David Beasley, to feed the 30 million worldwide at risk of dying from hunger. The world’s 2000 billionaires, Beasley notes, hold a combined net worth of $8 trillion.” Reducing billionaire wealth by 0.1% could put an end to people dying from hunger worldwide!
Some will argue that directly providing food is not the best approach; better to give people the fishing poles, rather than the fish. I would go one step further: Give people democracy and reduce excessive wealth inequality and people will have fishing poles and fish. Whatever approach a philanthropist takes, the challenges posed and surfaced by the COVID-19 crisis require a lot more money than has been forthcoming.
So why, in the midst of the multiple crises facing us today, aren’t wealthy individuals and foundations stepping up to the plate to provide funding at the level needed to address them? Is it a lack of humility?
Lucy Bernholz, a nationally respected researcher and director at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society explains it this way: “Entities such as foundations, philanthropic limited-liability companies, corporate philanthropy, impact investment, and donor-advised funds are all products of a robust industry of wealth and legal advisers, asset-management firms, and consultants. The people who create philanthropic organizations and those who work at them may be motivated by altruism, generosity, and even justice. But big philanthropy today is populated by institutions designed to optimize a combination of tax privilege, asset protection, and familial privacy according to the particular value calculation of the founders.”
Boil this down to one word: hoarding. Before the election, the poor justification for hoarding was stock market losses, but now the stock market is at a record high. Will the new excuse be that there is no longer a crisis, thanks to a new administration and a vaccine? According to the Economic Policy Institute’s Heidi Shierholz, who was the Department of Labor’s chief economist during the Obama administration, 25.7 million workers have been hit by the COVID downturn, including 11 million officially unemployed, and 7 million employed but experiencing cut in pay and hours. Have we accounted for the impact of 250,000 deaths? Have we even begun, putting aside some flashy philanthropic headlines, to adequately fund a move toward racial justice? What will it take to fix our badly broken democracy?
President-elect Biden has said: “This is a great nation. And we’re a good people….[I]f Americans come together, there is nothing we cannot do.” The same could be said for philanthropists.
We are fast approaching the 10-month mark for the pandemic. If you are still thinking about digging deep for this year, sign on to the Crisis Charitable Commitment now so that together we can influence others to join us. That is how committed philanthropists march. Heed the artistic advice proffered by the Tides Foundation: GOYA. Get off your assets! It matters.