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The Philanthropic Work of 5 Former Presidents

The Philanthropic Work of 5 Former PresidentsAs leaders of the world’s most powerful nation, U.S. presidents are expected to have a broad understanding of global issues. After leaving office, many former presidents continue to make positive changes in the world. Here are five examples of recent U.S. presidents who use their influence and recognizable names to help the international community.

  1. The Carter Center/Habitat for Humanity: The Carters founded the Carter Center, which has operated in more than 80 countries. It helps resettle refugees throughout Africa, fights the spread of malaria in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and recently launched an initiative to improve China’s presence in Africa.
  2. Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute: Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) founded many initiatives in favor of peace and diplomacy. One of these is the Reagan Institute Strategy Group, which believes America is “indispensable to preserving the free, open and peaceful political and economic system that provides the foundation for how countries interact.” The Strategy Group promotes America’s crucial role on the world stage and its ideals of freedom. To that end, it meets with foreign policy and national security leaders like the E.U. in dealing with Ukraine. The Westminster 2.0 Working Group also lobbies for America’s continued role as a global leader. Westminster 2.0 keeps America and its allies working with the latest modern technology and media. It also assists with efforts to give oppressed people in less democratic nations a voice.
  3. George and Barbara Bush Endowment: Before entering the White House in 1989, George and Barbara Bush lost their 3-year-old daughter Robin to leukemia. Years later, the couple began an endowment to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. This endowment continues to this day, even after both of their deaths. The MD Anderson Cancer Center is the largest cancer research center in the U.S. and takes patients from around the world. Recently, MD Anderson started working in lower-income countries, which is necessary as cancer disproportionately affects the poor. It hopes to decrease global cancer through education and prevention and is delivering necessary cancer research to nations in Africa and Latin America.
  4. Clinton Foundation: The Clinton Foundation, created at the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency in 2001, has become one of the largest presidential organizations. In 2005, the Foundation started the Clinton Global Initiative, which has worked in over 180 countries. In response to the effects of four devastating hurricanes, Bill Clinton devoted particular care to Haiti. The foundation doubled its efforts after the 2010 earthquake. In total, the Clinton Global Initiative has donated around $500 million to Haiti. More recently, the CGI began networking in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, following the 2017 hurricane season. So far, more than 700 organizations have joined in support. The Network continued its efforts after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
  5. Obama Foundation: Despite getting out of the presidential office relatively recently, Barack Obama (2009-2017) has remained a global leader. With the Obama Foundation, work is being done for the next generation of leaders. The Scholars Initiative partners with the University of Chicago and Columbia University to fund global startups. Young minds from all over the globe have taken it to begin solutions to global problems. Michelle started the Girls Opportunity Alliance through the Obama Foundation. It looks to help the 98 million girls not in school get access to high-quality education worldwide. The Alliance provides a network for organizations that work in global female schooling.

What’s Next?

These former U.S. presidents continue to make a positive impact on the international community long after leaving office. Through various initiatives and organizations, they address global challenges and strive to create a better world. From the Carter Center’s work in refugee resettlement and malaria prevention to the Clinton Foundation’s extensive efforts in disaster relief and education, these leaders leverage their influence to bring about positive change. The dedication of these former presidents serves as an inspiration, highlighting the potential for ongoing leadership and advocacy to shape a brighter future on a global scale.

– Josh Sobchak
Photo: Flickr

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4 Activists Fighting Global Poverty

Activists Fighting World Poverty
Hunger is a prevalent issue that impacts children, families and individuals in countries across the globe. Despite the major scale of this issue, determined individuals can play major roles in providing food security to thousands. Sharing their ideas and resources on how to reduce hunger around the world, here are four activists fighting global poverty.

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist. The Taliban shot her in the head in 2012 for publicly advocating an end to gender discrimination in education. Since then, she has become a U.N. Messenger of Peace, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the co-founder of the Malala Fund. Oftentimes, those in poverty cannot receive quality education which also limits social mobility. The Malala Fund is addressing world poverty by providing education to millions of girls. This organization created the Education Champion Network, which helps provide education to girls in Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. The Malala Fund has partnered with Apple Inc. and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as individuals such as Angelina Jolie, to help support the 130 million girls being denied an education around the world.

Ernesto Sirolli

Ernesto Sirolli is a leading activist on economic development for those in poverty. Born in Italy, Sirolli worked for an Italian NGO in Zambia. This NGO taught Zambian communities how to grow Italian vegetables. There was resistance to the NGO’s efforts and, as a result, the organization paid wages to the Zambian communities working with them. Before the communities could harvest the vegetables, Sirolli witnessed a group of hippos rise out of the river and devour their new agriculture. Only then did he understand the true threat of local resistance.

From this experience, Sirolli discovered the issues that arise from what he calls “dead aid” from many Western countries. He questioned whether the more than $2 trillion from Western countries dedicated to developing communities was being used in a non-patronizing way. He noticed that NGOs rarely worked with local entrepreneurs on an individual level.

Sirolli developed a philosophy of economic aid for those in poverty in which the primary principle is respect. He created the Sirolli Institute International Enterprise Facilitation Inc., a network that gives local entrepreneurs an opportunity to develop their own ideas and benefit their own communities. Sirolli offers local people privacy, confidentiality, dedicated service and other essential components of entrepreneurship.

Louise Fresco

Louise Fresco is a Dutch researcher and activist who advocates for smart agriculture as the key to fighting world hunger. In 2000, she became the assistant-director general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome and brought her ideas to an international scale. Fresco uses the evolution of bread as a metaphor to explain food’s role in the development of modern society.

Over time, bread has evolved from a staple to a cheap contributor to obesity. Additionally, Fresco discusses the large-scale production that has resulted in the mass destruction of landscapes. This negative association, combined with the negative environmental impacts of mass production, has created a counter-culture where people prefer to buy bread made from small-scale sellers. However, Fresco argues, buying from small-scale producers is a luxury solution for those who can afford it. People in poverty simply benefit from diverse, low-cost and safe bread.

Cheap bread symbolizes that food has become increasingly affordable. The human race currently has more available food than ever before, which allows people to focus on other activities. Humans have not had the luxury of ample food production until now when it has become so cheap compared to previous years. Fresco believes that to solve world hunger, countries must increase food production with subtle mechanization to avoid large-scale environmental destruction.

Melinda Gates

Along with her husband Bill, Melinda Gates is the co-founder of the world’s largest private charitable organization. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a $40 billion trust endowment that helps solve issues including global health, global development, global policy and global growth or opportunity.

Melinda Gates has used her position to focus on empowering women around the world. Specifically, Gates concentrates on family planning, maternal well-being and child health. She has spread awareness about “time poverty,” which is the idea that many women perform hours of unpaid work that can deprive them of their potential.

The Gates Foundation has donated to Mama Cash and Prospera, two prominent international women’s funds. Since 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has put upwards of $560 million toward women’s health.

Each of these activists fighting world poverty is taking a different approach to eradicating global hunger. However, the culmination of these efforts is making a major impact around the world, one person at a time.

– Camryn Anthony
Photo: Pixabay

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How COVID-19 is Increasing International Philanthropy

Increasing International PhilanthropyAs COVID-19 inspires increasing international philanthropy, trends in American and global giving create an opportunity for growth in the philanthropy sector. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that as of April 21, donor governments and multilateral organizations around the globe were responding to the coronavirus with $16.5 billion in completed international donations and aid, the biggest donors being governments, the World Bank and the Asian Development Fund.

The U.S. Philanthropic Efforts

The U.S. government had provided $2.39 billion in international aid as of April. As of August 12, Candid reported, an additional $13 billion in institutional and individual philanthropic donations had been given globally, with the biggest donations coming from Google, CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey and TikTok parent company ByteDance. The majority of funding, both philanthropic and from governments and multilateral organizations, have gone to disaster relief. COVID-19 is increasing international philanthropy efforts around the globe, and that trend has proven true of U.S.-based institutional and individual giving.

“To put this unprecedented commitment of institutional and individual philanthropy in perspective, the U.S. total alone of more than $6 billion is, according to Candid’s figures, more than double the entire campaigns for 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, Hurricane Harvey, the Ebola outbreak, the Haitian earthquake, and the recent Australian bushfires,” Andrew Grabois wrote in a blog for Candid.

COVID-19’s Impact on Donor Giving

A recent Fidelity Charitable study found that 79% of donors plan to either maintain or increase their existing levels of giving. 31% of donors will be giving money to international organizations as part of their COVID-19 philanthropy, following a significant decrease in donations to international charities in 2017. International affairs nonprofits, on the other hand, have consistently been steadily increasing. 69% of donors said they are “very” or “somewhat concerned” about how international aid organizations will suffer during the pandemic. 30% of donors say they are donating “to address the economic impacts” of COVID-19.

Betsy Morris of The Wall Street Journal reported that as coronavirus related philanthropy skyrockets, nonprofits unrelated to coronavirus relief have seen significant declines in donations and volunteer activity; 80% of nonprofits surveyed in June said that revenue had fallen since the pandemic started, and 70% had been forced to reduced their activity level. Donations to U.S. charities saw an 11% decline in March, and the outlook remains bleak as the pandemic continues; 72% of donors do not “expect their giving to return to prior levels.”

Shifting Philanthropic Sector

But the pandemic has also caused significant shifts in the philanthropy sector that could help pave the way to recovery; consulting company Mckinsey & Company explained that large-scale donations are also happening “at record speed, with fewer conditions, and in greater collaboration with others,” all of which can and should be long-term shifts in the philanthropy sector.

Donor institutions are addressing three main areas to address short- and long-term philanthropy challenges by adjusting grant practices to be easier and more accessible for grantees, increasing the “pace and volume” of philanthropic giving, scaling impact with partnerships and collaboration between individual and institutional donors, investment in grassroots and local leadership and providing support to the public sector. All these shifts will allow for this increasing international philanthropy and a more effective sector long after the pandemic has waned.

– Emily Rahhal
Photo: Flickr

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5 Businesses that Support Ending World Hunger

Five Businesses that Support Ending World Hunger
Many people in developed countries take things for granted, whether a clear blue sky or a cheeseburger from McDonald’s. However, across the world, approximately 805 million people around the world are undernourished, consuming well under the recommended number of calories per day. Those suffering from poverty often do not have the money to purchase food or land on which to produce it, resulting in global suffering. Some businesses are aware of this issue and want to help make a change, using their influence to make an impact on world hunger.

5 Businesses that Support Ending World Hunger

  1. Walmart: Walmart’s philanthropy revolves around addressing hunger, health and how to make sustainable food a reality. In 2018, the Walmart Foundation announced a five-year commitment plan to give $25 million in grants to smallholder farmers in India. These funds will give farmers access to better agriculture technology, more sustainable techniques and skill-building.
  2. Panera Bread: Panera Bread has previously partnered with the World Central Kitchen to provide meals to those suffering from food scarcity. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Panera Bread has partnered with Chef José to continued their philanthropy by providing meals nationwide – beginning with cities in the most critical situations. Panera Bread is not only donating but also offering their kitchens and resources, and partnering with vendors and supply chains to donate excess food.
  3. General Mills: General Mills is one of the founding members of the Global FoodBanking Network, an international nonprofit organization that aims to create a hunger-free world. General Mills and Global FoodBanking Network understand the importance of food waste and are working with food banks to reduce hunger and malnutrition. Through this partnership, General Mills has been able to provide 201 million meals to those in need since 2010.
  4. Kraft Heinz Company: The Kraft Heinz Company Micronutrient Campaign was created to provide access to nutritional supplements and ensure the healthy development of those in other countries. This campaign distributes micronutrient powders rich in vitamins, minerals and supplemental iron to mix into children’s food. The Kraft Heinz Company has effectively treated and prevented iron deficiency, anemia, and other vitamin deficiencies through these efforts.
  5. Western Digital: Through partnerships with Rise Against Hunger and Latet, Western Digital, a computer and data storage company, packaged over six million meals for those in need in 2019. Western Digital is passionate about the health of the body and mind and believes that to achieve a healthy lifestyle, nutritious meals are a necessity. By providing these packaged meals, Western Digital hopes to improve student health, promote education and stimulate economic growth.

World hunger is a problem that will not be solved overnight. Companies such as those listed above understand the importance of aiding those who struggle to obtain proper sustenance every day. These five businesses that support ending world hunger have partnered with incredible organizations devoted to providing children and their families with nutritional food and vitamins needed for healthy growth. Through their efforts, they are making a large impact on world hunger.

– Ciara Pagels
Photo: Flickr

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Cryptocurrency and Poverty Reduction

Cryptocurrency and Poverty Reduction
An increasing number of nonprofit organizations are looking to cryptocurrency to help reduce global poverty. The immediacy, inclusivity and stability that cryptocurrency promotes could be invaluable for those who are in crisis, lack access to a bank or struggle due to hyperinflation. Here are four examples of how cryptocurrency and poverty reduction are coming together:

GiveCrypto

GiveCrypto is a nonprofit organization that links cryptocurrency and global poverty reduction. Since founding members currently cover operating fees, 100 percent of the funds GiveCrypto accumulates goes to the recipients. While Bitcoin is the most recognized cryptocurrency GiveCrypto uses, this nonprofit also transfers money through Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, XRP and Zcash. GiveCrypto emerged on June 20, 2018, and has raised $4 million so far. The founders hope that GiveCrypto will improve the well-being of individual people struggling in their communities. However, they also intend for GiveCrypto to build up the economies of these communities. For this reason, the ultimate goal of the organization is “to help spark economic growth by giving access to property rights and financial services on an open network.”

CareBit

The founders of CareBit specifically designed the CARE coin for charity purposes. Unlike GiveCrypto which is merely a platform to distribute several different types of cryptocurrency to those living in poverty or financial crisis, CareBit is its own cryptocurrency. The purpose of creating the CARE coin is to link cryptocurrency and poverty reduction more directly. Currently, CareBit is the only independent charity on blockchain, a technology that documents and decentralizes transactions. By directly implementing a charity model into blockchain, CareBit is able to trace transactions to ensure that 100 percent of each donation reaches its intended recipient. The ultimate goal for CareBit is to increase transparency and to decrease fees, corruption and fraud in any given transaction.

BitGive

BitGive emerged in 2013 and is Bitcoin’s first nonprofit charity. BitGive partners with international relief organizations and local charities such as The Water Project, Medic Mobile and Save the Children. Just like CareBit, BitGive implements its charity directly into blockchain in order to effectively track donations and increase its efficiency. Additionally, BitGive uses the blockchain technology GiveTrack to publicly track financial information and share this information in real-time. With GiveTrack, donors can track funds and ensure donations reach their final destination. The other benefit of BitGive is that processing fees are considerably less. On average, 3.61 percent of donations go towards processing fees for the average nonprofit. On the other hand, BitGive spends less than one percent of donations on fees.

Binance Charity Foundation

The Binance Charity Foundation (BCF) is the philanthropic extension of Binance Exchange. BCF uses Binance Coin to integrate cryptocurrency and poverty reduction. In contrast to the nonprofits mentioned above which focus on financial poverty reduction, BCF specifically focuses on improving the overall health of women in developing countries. For instance, BCF has recently partnered with 46 other organizations to provide a one-year supply of sanitary products to approximately one million women. Women will receive these sanitary products by using the Pink Care Token (PCAT), a redemption-only token on the Binance blockchain.

Uniting cryptocurrency and poverty reduction initiatives demonstrates the increasing demand for improved donating systems in response to a lack of trust in how charities spend their funds. Thus, the increased transparency that cryptocurrency offers through blockchain’s traceability feature could potentially reassure donors and encourage them to donate. Whether or not cryptocurrencies will become influential enough to directly strengthen the economies of the developing world, however, is still unclear.

– Ariana Howard
Photo: Unsplash

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Similarities and Differences Between Charities, Nonprofit Organizations and Philanthropy

Similarities and Differences Between a Charity, Non-profit Organization and Philanthropy
To get a better understanding of the different ways in which one can contribute to the community, it’s important to know the similarities and differences between charities, nonprofit organizations and philanthropy.

A large part of progress in the world is due to humanitarian aid and contribution, whether it be people donating money or food to the less fortunate or people coming together to work for and promote human welfare. Charities, nonprofit organizations and philanthropy are important to communities because each is effective in bringing positive change and offers valuable opportunities and programs to people.

Giving USA reports that charitable donations surged to an estimated $410.02 billion in 2017, a major increase of 5.2 percent from $389.64 in 2016. This is the first time that Giving exceeded $400 billion in one year.

While charities, nonprofit organizations and philanthropy can be used interchangeably and are similar in that each brings positive change, they differ significantly in the way they operate.

Charities

A charity is an immediate but emotional monetary donation or short-term contribution usually intended for crisis and relief efforts and supported completely by the public.

People usually donate to a charity that they have a personal connection to or are emotionally affected by. For instance, if a person is deeply concerned about animals, he or she may give a monetary donation at a local animal shelter.

According to Score, one of the ways to understand the differences between charities, nonprofit organizations and philanthropy is to remember that a nonprofit’s purpose is educational or religious and if its funds promote a cause that affects the general public and uses public solicitation to operate, it is most likely a charity.

Examples of donations to a charity include giving money or food to a homeless shelter, donating to an animal shelter, giving money to The Salvation Army bell-ringers outside one’s local supermarket during the holiday season, etc.

Nonprofit Organizations

A nonprofit organization and a charity are similar in that they both operate on a not-for-profit basis but differ based on whether it is tax-deductible and even in the way it operates. A charitable donation can count as tax-deductible while nonprofit organizations have to meet certain requirements and file with the IRS as a charitable organization.

A popular nationwide nonprofit organization is the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross website states that a donor’s donation goes toward strengthening the Red Cross response to nearly 64,000 disasters a year, providing a safe place, food and other necessities to affected individuals and their families. In 2016, the Red Cross provided 385,000 emergency assistance services, gave millions CPR and AED training and supplied 7 million blood products to patients in need.

Philanthropy

One way to remember the differences between charities, nonprofit organizations and philanthropy is by understanding that charities and nonprofits give/contribute while philanthropy involves action. For instance, while a charity can be a quick one-time donation to a school, philanthropy would work toward providing academic scholarships to students or funding to build a better school. Charities aim to lessen the suffering caused by social problems while philanthropists work toward ending social problems.

According to Medium, philanthropy is a long-term strategic investment and intervention dedicated to building long-lasting and successful change in individuals and communities.

While many think a philanthropist is someone who donates large amounts of money to an organization, a philanthropist can be somebody devoted to ending a certain social problem and promoting human welfare.

Impact and Importance

Although there are several differences between charities, nonprofit organizations and philanthropy, the important part is that all of these are effective in building a more efficient and progressive world. It doesn’t matter if someone donates to charities or nonprofit organizations or decides to become a philanthropist, what matters is their contribution serves to help those in need and is also another step toward progress.

– Kristen Uedoi
Photo: Flickr

 

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Donated Bicycles: Opening Doors and Changing Lives

donated bicyclesBicycles are essential to communities in developing countries. A bicycle provides an advanced mobility that allows for heavier loads, faster trips, less wear and tear on the body and, happily, the chance for recreation. A person’s day will include more accomplishments in less time.

Bicycles mean productivity. And donated bicycles mean opportunity.

Getting the Donated Bicycles

Entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations alike have become forces in mobilizing citizens with donated bicycles. Mike’s Bikes, a California-based bike shop, partners with other area businesses and organizes bike drives to fill shipping containers full of used bicycles and spare parts. Like Mike’s Bikes, Bicycles for Humanity ships bikes and parts in containers, and both organizations outfit the containers so they can become bike shops for the village in which they land. Bicycles for Humanity even refers to their containers as Bicycle Empowerment Centers.

World Bicycle Relief produces new bicycles, known as Buffalo Bikes, through monetary donations. They are built specifically for the rugged conditions of the particular region, with puncture-proof tires and a heftier frame for carrying more cargo. Bicycles Change Lives also produces new bicycles, naming its program Qhubeka, a Nguni word that means, “to progress,” or, “to move forward.”

Creating Jobs

Bikes for the World also ships donated bicycles and parts in large containers. The organization focuses on Africa, Central America and the South Pacific, and works with partners like the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana and Sierra Leone and the Madagascar Community-Based Integrated Health Project (MAHEFA) in Madagascar.

In El Salvador, the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology (CESTA) has built up an impressive bike shop, and an equally impressive program for training at-risk youth to work in it through the reconditioning, repair and maintenance of bikes. CESTA runs EcoBici, the training program aimed at helping young people build skills and stay out of gangs.

Donated bicycles are so vital that, as the youths learn to eventually manage their own shops, they find themselves at the center of their community with positive engagement and interaction. For people of all ages, the village bike shop has become an integral component in developing countries as a productive hub for societal and industrial activity.

Healthcare Workers and Their Patients

Remarkably, bicycle transportation improves health in rural areas, and not just for the rider. Amid the health crises in regions of Africa, trained healthcare workers and volunteers do all they can to visit patients in their homes and in hospitals, but are often traveling on foot.

In Zambia, one community volunteer, Royce, works to help citizens of her village by testing their HIV/AIDS status and educating them on prevention and treatment. Before she received her bike, she would walk seven kilometers each day to visit three patients. Now, thanks to World Bicycle Relief, she travels on two wheels and visits 18 patients, including vulnerable children, in a single day. “I’m always happy when I ride my bike,” says Royce. “People in my community recognize me.  They say, ‘There goes our caregiver on her bike.’”

Elsewhere in Zambia, three healthcare volunteers, Gertrude, Robert and Francis, who work to prevent and treat malaria in their region, enjoy a similar experience when they are recognized on their bright orange Buffalo bikes, painted so for the 1500 health workers in the area.  “When they see the bikes,” says Robert, “they know we have come to fight malaria.”

Statistics at World Bicycle Relief show that the over 138,000 Buffalo Bike-mobilized healthcare workers can reach 45 percent more patients and travel four times further than was possible on foot.

Education and Empowering Girls

The greatest challenge for most children wanting to attend school in developing countries is simply getting there. World Bicycle Relief statistics point out that the attendance of a student with a bicycle increases up to 28 percent, while their academic performance increases up to a dramatic 59 percent. And for girls, completing their education means they are six times less likely to become child brides.

For one 15-year-old girl, Ethel, a two-hour trek to school across rough terrain is now a 45-minute bike ride. Being on time helped her become a confident and exemplary student. Ethel even began using her bicycle to transport fellow classmates to school.

Education is key for the progressing dimensions of developing nations, including breaking the cycle of poverty. From 2009 to 2016, over 126,000 students have received Buffalo Bikes through World Bicycle Relief.

The advantage of mobilization by donated bicycles for workers, healthcare volunteers and students is tremendous. It also reaches farmers and small business operators who can travel greater distances with more wares to sell. It reaches citizens like businessman Ernest in Ghana, who gets his work done earlier in the day and can now coach a local youth soccer team in the time he’s saved. It reaches 14-year-old Koketso, who says there is now a cycling club at her school and that she’d like to take cycling up as a sport.

“With my bicycle,” Koketso says, “I can visit a lot of places that I have never seen before.”

– Jaymie Greenway

Photo: Flickr

 

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The Giving Pledge: Wealth to Philanthropy


At the end of May 2017, 14 of the richest people in the world joined a coalition of like-minded individuals in the Giving Pledge, an organization dedicated to providing a large portion of their fortunes to philanthropic endeavors.
The Giving Pledge was created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010. It strives to offer encouragement to the world’s wealthiest to provide aid to causes that address the greatest issues society faces today.

With the addition of these 14 individuals, the Giving Pledge now has 168 signatories spanning 21 different countries who have committed their wealth. They are committed to being a multinational and multigenerational organization (with members ranging in age from 31 to 93) that spans both distance and time in order to promote philanthropic goals.

This new group of initiates joins the Giving Pledge from diverse regions around the globe including Tanzania, Cyprus, Australia, Slovenia, China and the United States. Though these individuals come from all corners of the world, their ultimate drive of providing aid to those in need gives them a common goal.

“Philanthropy is different around the world, but almost every culture has a long-standing tradition of giving back,” Melinda Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said.

The 14 new individuals that have dedicated themselves to the Giving Pledge are:

  • Leonard H. Ainsworth – Australia
  • Mohammed Dewji – Tanzania
  • Dagmar Dolby – United States
  • DONG Fangjun – People’s Republic of China
  • Anne Grete Eidsvig and Kjell Inge Rokke – Norway
  • Sir Stelios Haji-Loanno – Monaco, Cyprus
  • Nick and Leslie Hanauer – United States
  • Iza and Samo Login – Slovenia
  • Dean and Marianne Metopoulos – United States
  • Terry and Susan Ragon – United States
  • Nat Simmons and Laura Baxter-Simons – United States
  • Robert Fredrick Smith – United States
  • Harry H. Stine – United States
  • You Zhonghui – People’s Republic of China

“Bill and Warren and I are excited to welcome the new, very international group of philanthropists joining the Giving Pledge, and look forward to learning from their diverse experiences,” Melinda Gates said.

These new members will join other notable individuals, including Michael R. Bloomberg (founder and CEO of Bloomberg LC), Richard Branson (Virgin and its subsidiaries) and George Lucas (director and creator of Star Wars), in their philanthropic endeavors.

Signatories of the Giving Pledge meet throughout the year to discuss philanthropic strategies, successes and failures. The group does not require members to participate in any particular cause.

– Drew Hazzard

Photo: Flickr

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China’s New Charity Law

Charity LawChina is now home to more billionaires than the United States and has experienced an annual economic growth rate of 7% since 2010. Despite this, the country is still ranked second to last in a list of 145 most charitable countries, according to the 2015 U.K.-based Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index. However, China’s new Charity Law seeks to promote a model for greater domestic charitable giving within the country.

The law will also prospectively support the country’s sustainability in disaster relief, environmental protection, public health and anti-poverty efforts to lift rural residents out of poverty by 2020. As of 2015, 55.75 million of China’s rural residents were still considered impoverished.

What Will China’s New Charity Law Assist?

While China’s annual donations to charities have soared from 10 billion to 100 billion yuan in the last ten years, growth has remained stagnant within the last five years paradoxically alongside economic prosperity.

According to the Boston Globe, the China Philanthropy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center identified three reasons.

First, giving in China remains localized and focused on a single cause — six out of 10 renminbi was donated to the same province where the donor’s corporate headquarters was situated, leaving the poorest rural areas without financial support.

Second, three-quarters of the donors gave to a single cause: education, leaving out other realms needing support.

Third, the majority of donors gave through their corporations, a pattern “reflecting the range of legal, regulatory, and political challenges facing the development of a vibrant giving environment on a national level.”

China’s new Charity Law will encourage a more sturdy model of contemporary giving, allowing for more charities to raise funds from the public without a complex registration system or a need for approval from the supervisory board and China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The law will also allow for tax incentives for charities and make it easier for the wealthy to establish charitable trusts on their own. Moreover, with a track record of scandals in the past which have deterred success in charitable giving, transparency, as well as tighter management, will be incorporated. “From the philanthropy side and public policy side, it’s very well written,” Edward Cunningham, a scholar at Harvard University said.

The global community looks forward to the results from the Charity Law, not just in better services and poverty alleviation for Chinese citizens but a transparent and confident government charity program.

– Priscilla Son

Photo: Gauthier DELECROIX

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Annie Lennox Supports The Global Fund in APPG Meeting

Annie Lennox _ The Globa
Activist and world-renowned musician, Annie Lennox, has become a powerful and influential voice for those suffering from malaria, HIV, AIDS and tuberculosis. Her dedication to the cause became even clearer at a recent All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting in London where she spoke out in favor of the Global Fund and their efforts to reduce and treat disease in impoverished areas.

This is but one of the many ways in which Annie Lennox involves herself in issues of global poverty and disease. In the past, she has fundraised for the Treatment Action Campaign by donating the funds raised from her single, Sing. She is also a recipient of the British Red Cross’ Services to Humanity Award.

At the APPG meeting, she continued her charity work, by vocally supporting the Global Fund and their many initiatives. The Global Fund is a financing institution with the goal of providing support to countries suffering from diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The organization has set a $13 billion funding target for the 2017-2019 period. This money will go toward saving eight million people and stopping 300 million new infections across the span of three years. In order to reach this goal, donor nations will have to increase their offerings by 20%. Multiple nations such as Japan and Canada have agreed to this increase. However, the U.K.’s contribution is crucial to reaching this goal.

In her keynote speech, Annie Lennox urged British members of parliament to invest further in the Global Fund and increase their disease-fighting efforts. She said: “With the upcoming replenishment of the Global Fund, the U.K. government has the opportunity to show that their continued leadership and dedication to saving and improving quality of life has not waned.”

Award-winning actress Emma Thompson supported the call for the U.K. to step up their funding. Other notable speakers, such as The ONE Campaign’s U.K. Director, Saira O’Mallie, spoke on the same subject. O’Mallie addressed the pertinent issue through her statement, “Amid the uncertainty over the U.K.’s position in the world following Brexit, the Government’s continued commitment to the Global Fund will offer reassurance to millions of vulnerable people.”

The Global Fund does wonders to improve health across the globe, and should be supported across all countries in addition to the U.K.

– Jordan Little

Photo: Flickr