Big Bet Philanthropy consists of “eight-figure-or-more attempt[s] to create systemic social change, according to Forbes. As wealth becomes more concentrated, more individuals and foundations are making the decision to make transformative philanthropic donations. Who is making donations of those sizes and where is the money ending up? And what should you do as a young adult to make your own impact?
What is Big Bet Philanthropy?
As William Foster, Partner at Bridgespan, puts it in his TEDTalk, “Big Bets for Social Change,” big bets are “moments in time when a wealthy individual or a foundation makes an extraordinarily large commitment to achieve something in the world.” He explains that there exists in the world enormous amounts of concentrated wealth – not exactly a revolutionary statement, seeing as how the wealth disparity in America has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And there is no doubt that COVID-19 has redirected philanthropic efforts to fight the pandemic.
Foster goes on to describe how, despite that wealth disparity, there does exist a certain generosity as well, leading us to a discussion of big bet philanthropy. Foster explores why it is that 80 percent of $10 million or more gifts go to traditional institutions, like universities, hospitals, and museums, rather than social change organizations — it can be hard to funnel wealth into unconventional recipients with bold visions for social change because the infrastructure to receive the money may not exist. That may be a hurdle, but it is one that we as a society can overcome by changing the way we think about the culture of philanthropy. We need to focus on matching ambitious funders with visionary actors.
The Giving Pledge: The People Behind the Gifts
The Giving Pledge is “a commitment by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back.” Started in 2010 by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, the Pledge aims to commit the wealthiest people to give more of their wealth away, and to do so with more intention and thoughtfulness.
“This is about building on a wonderful tradition of philanthropy that will ultimately help the world become a much better place.”
Bill Gates, co-founder of the Giving Pledge
Signatories include Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscill Chan, Michael R. Bloomberg, Jeff Skoll and many more totaling over 200 hundred individuals and families. The Giving Pledge is a step in the right direction towards building a society where philanthropic giving is normalized in order to pursue social change.
What Does this Really Look Like?
So far, we’ve been talking about transformative gifts in the abstract. To make these concepts a little more concrete, Forbes, along with the Bridgespan Group, put together a list of the most promising “big bet” donations of 2017. A quick glance through reveals a few truly unbelievable philanthropic gifts with staggering dollars amounts and meaningful partnerships.
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave $600 million to the Global Fund to Fights AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave $75 million to the Innovative Vector Control Consortium
- The Blue Meridian Partners gave $33 million to the Nurse Family Partnership
- The Fund II Foundation gave $27 million to the Susan G. Komen African American Health Equity Initiative
- Bloomberg Philanthropies gave $360 million to the Tobacco Control initiative
And that’s just the top five! The list goes on to include numerous other gifts, totaling $6.7 billion. It is clear that Foster is right that in some instances, wealth and generosity are coming together for social change.
The Other Side of the Coin
Not everyone agrees that big bet philanthropy is the best pathway to effectively donating. Larry Kramer, President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, makes the argument that while big donations are certainly not always bad, they can be too much about posturing and not enough about substance. Kramer advocates for a process of “spending quietly but steadily,” in which “progress has come in fits and starts.” This kind of philanthropy is conducted by building upon long-lasting relationships with grantees, rather than perhaps bolder, singular giving.
“There are no silver bullets, no shortcuts, when dealing with poverty, racism, climate change, education, women’s rights, or income inequality, to name only a few of the significant problems that philanthropy addresses; working seriously on these requires a different mindset altogether”
Larry Kramer, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
What about Young Adults who Want to Help?
Chances are that college students and recent graduates might not have the nearly inconceivable amounts of capital we’re talking about to make a “big bet” donation, and that’s perfectly fine. There are still many ways to make a difference in the world around you.
- Get involved with our new initiative, Impactfull – click here to learn more!
- Read Alexa’s article on Giving Tuesday for advice on how to make an impact without spending a dime – it’s tips are applicable for any day of the year!
- Check out my article on “Impact Investing for College Students and Recent Grads”
- Harem explores effective altruism for Novel Hand and her article offers a different perspective on “Why Philanthropy Isn’t Good Enough”
- Check out William Foster’s article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review or watch his TEDTalk to learn more
- Continue learning through and along side Novel Hand, and check out these amazing resources
