Rohini Nilekani Quotes

I have a philanthropy advisor, Hari Menon, who was earlier at the Gates Foundation.

How I see my career is very much as an entrepreneur in the field of philanthropy.

Jessica Jackley has a gift for making people want to fork over their cash. To total strangers. Far, far away.

I would say to young entrepreneurs and budding philanthropists - are you giving to feel good or do good?

'Giving 2.0' was born of my desire to redefine and democratize philanthropy.

Shouldn't you put the same amount of effort into your giving as you might for your for-profit investments? After all, philanthropy is an investment, and one in which lives - not profits - are at stake.

At least once a year, I meet with a group called the Giving Pledge. It's a group of billionaires - including me, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner - who have pledged to give away most of their money to charity. We meet for three days to talk about what we're doing to help make the planet a better place to live.

I hope that by joining The Giving Pledge, it will encourage others to do the same.

I started off with making personal donations and eventually set up my own foundation, VTCY Foundation, now known as Better Malaysia Foundation. My contributions are also made through companies that I own.

I think all philanthropy invests in product innovation, whether in a vaccine or a new kind of product of one sort or another, and I think we'll all continue to do that.

You can express your generosity in ways that are virtually limitless. This was what I wanted to convey in 'Giving 2.0' - that whether you have $10 or $10 million to give, if you identify the right opportunities and make the most of your resources, your impact can be tremendous.

I always thought that I would spend the first half of my life making money so I can spend the second half of my life giving it all away. And one of the defining moments of my life was when I realized that I could do both at the same time with TOMS.

Philanthropy is no longer about writing a check for $10,000 to the opera.

In my view, a philanthropist is anyone who gives anything - time, money, experience, skills or networks - in any amount, to create a better world. This is not how we once thought about philanthropy. The word used to conjure up something rather passive - sitting down and writing checks.

I think those who are already in philanthropy and enjoying it and making a difference have a responsibility to share their stories widely, and to be very transparent about their giving.

Foundations exist to help charities, to help those in need. And Mr. Trump has been incredibly generous throughout his career.

There are three lessons in philanthropy - one, involve the family, especially the spouse. She can be a remarkable driver of your initiative. Two, you need to build an institution, and you need to scale it up. Choose a leader for philanthropy whom you trust. Three, philanthropy needs patience, tenacity and time.

Nonprofits are the intermediaries between generosity and social change.

Generous people can become more generous as they become richer, giving away vast fortunes to worthwhile causes as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing.

It's time to re-think charity. It's time to give charity the big-league freedoms we really give to business. The fight for these freedoms must be our new cause, because without them, all of our causes are ultimately lost.

I get great satisfaction from both business and philanthropy.

Today, we don't blink an eye when the world's wealthiest individuals donate enormous sums of money to charitable causes. In fact, we expect them to do so.

I launched Chefs for Humanity, a national nonprofit, with my voice, heart and money from my own pocket. Money gives you the ability to make a difference in the world and, when used in a positive way, is a lot of fun.

For me, I get immense pleasure out of giving. I do what I can. I try and give around 10% of my earnings a year. Some years, I give more, some I give less.

Charities are really good. To a certain extent, the ones you pick are arbitrary.