From The Motley Fool
Here are a few of the trends that are affecting philanthropy today and how you can use them to inform your own gift decisions.
Big, big donors will keep stepping in, and they’re invested in sharing their knowledge. The Giving Pledge campaign, which was started in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, invites the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetimes or in their will. The Pledge continues to grow: It now has 122 signatories. Some of these top philanthropists are keen to share knowledge, which anyone can use to be more skillful in their giving, so keep an eye out for guidance in their remarks to the media.
The most prominent player in philanthropic education is The Learning By Giving Foundation, started by Warren Buffet’s sister, Doris Buffett. That foundation created Giving With Purpose, an academically rigorous full-credit course in effective charitable giving that is offered at top U.S. universities. In 2013, with cooperation from Google, the foundation launched a free “massive open online course” version of the Giving With Purpose curriculum. More than 10,400 people from 111 countries participated. It combines easy access to learning on your own schedule with enough depth of information to identify high-performing nonprofits. You can even register for the next open class now.