Bill Gates has become the patron saint of philanthropy and the poster child of rebirth, and from what I can tell, rightly so.
I felt very uncomfortable when I became wealthy. One of my ways of dealing with it was to give it forward right away.
We have a new generation of very rich people who want to do more with their money than buy a lot of expensive toys. They want to live meaningful lives.
In my experience, the more successful an idea is, the easier it is to fund it. In philanthropy, it's almost harder.
With my business, the way you make big money is you find a great management team and a good concept, and you stick to it, and you add to it over time. In philanthropy, there was more this idea that once an idea was formulated, you moved along.
You must have a genius for charity as well as for anything else.
I think I have a good track record, both in commercial investing and in philanthropic investing. I don't have any interest in creating a named foundation; I have an interest in really good impact for capital. I think I'm pretty good at doing it, so I'm going to apply myself to doing it in my lifetime.
You know, Mike Milken, the money that he has raised for cancer research has been remarkable.
I always had the old-school model that I'm going to work for as long as I'm relevant and focus on for-profit activities and someday when I retire I'm going to learn about philanthropy.
Giving does not just feel good, but it's really, really good for business, and it's good for your personal brand.
I am convinced that only by applying the values of an entrepreneur to philanthropy will you ever be able to meet the needs of the greatest number of people.
Indian philanthropy doesn't take enough risk.
Donate time, food, or money to organizations that fight the good fight. We can act individually for the collective good. We can all do something.
Philanthropy is no longer about writing a check for $10,000 to the opera.
'Giving 2.0' was born of my desire to redefine and democratize philanthropy.
When I started teaching at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2000, no field-based courses in strategic philanthropy existed.
One of the great conundrums in philanthropy globally is that the way wealth creation happens itself often creates the inequities in society.
I am convinced that music, like philanthropy, bridges hope.
Every year, deans of admissions are pushed: 'Did you increase the number of applicants? Did you decrease the acceptance rate?' And it's an institutional priority for colleges and universities to look for students that are going to have a philanthropic family that could give to that school.
He gives only the worthless gold who gives from a sense of duty.
By understanding and harnessing the forces that drive human behavior, you can create a self-sustaining philanthropic effort that reaches millions of people. It begins with an entrepreneurial attitude: take an idea and execute on that idea. If it doesn't work, learn why and build on what you've learned.
You can do things in every part of the world. You can do things in every discipline. You can do large things, you can do small things. But it takes a while to figure out what you actually want to do. And it changes. As you change your interests and desires in philanthropy change, I think you have to be open to that change.
Supposing I write out a cheque for a billion dollars to the foundation, does it mean anything? There must be evidence of philanthropy. Otherwise, I'm sitting with that money, earning interest exactly the way in my holding company.
I feel a deep sense of responsibility to share everything that we've learned from TOMS, so that others can learn from both our mistakes and the counterintuitive principles that have guided our success.
Earlier in this century, philanthropy often flowed from the wills of dead industrialists. In recent decades, it's as likely to have come from a very alive business leader, entertainer, artist or sports star. The most effective of these patrons begin the process of giving by asking what they care about passionately.
