Chan and Zuckerburg’s Post-Charity Initiatives
Pretty much anything related to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan garners headlines. The announcement that they would be giving away 99 percent of their fortune – currently worth $45 billion in Facebook shares – prompted visions of a massive private foundation in the manner of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Instead the couple said they were putting the fund into a Limited Liability Company (LLC) to be called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative that would make grants, engage in political advocacy and invest in social enterprises. Welcome to a hybrid, post-charity world.
Folly? What No Large Charity or University Fundraiser Wants to Read
Years ago, I read a copy of Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons, Seymour Schulich’s freewheeling and eccentric “mentoring book.” Schulich is one of Canada’s great philanthropists, a man who has given away more than $200 million to charity, and has university faculties named for him across the country. He has a gloriously mischievous approach to life and philanthropy. Even though he has chosen to support traditional causes (universities and education), he has done so in an iconoclastic fashion.
A Tech Response to Crisis
There has been a lot of handwringing about the coming charity apocalypse. Canadian charities are facing the most challenging operating environment in at least 80 years. But in any crisis there is opportunity and help. The greatest opportunity for fundraising charities lies, not surprisingly, in online technology.
What’s Happened to Voluntarism?
“It is a very sad day for me when notable figures cannot donate time and energy to charitable causes they believe deserve support.”
This indignant observation came from a letter to The Globe and Mail on July 18, 2020 in response to WE Charity scandal that engulfed the Federal Government.
Charity Armageddon
Chicken Little thought the sky was falling. From the beginning of the pandemic last winter, the doomsayers predicted that the charitable sector would be hit especially hard. We’d see mass closures and bankruptcies. But when and how? Is COVID-19 an acorn or a harbinger of charity armageddon?
Are Canadian’s Actually Becoming More Generous?
The words “generous” and “generosity” come up a lot in the world of charity. But there is little discussion about what influences generosity in Canada. Is it growing or shrinking? And is nature of generosity changing? It is a slippery and fascinating subject.
Interview: 1 on 1 with Malcolm Burrows
(Interview by Nicole Nakoneshny originally appears on KCI Philanthropy)
What Charity ratings really tell us
Last June, the editors of Money Sense magazine issued a rating of 100 top Canadian charities. The magazine used a four-part rating system and assigned an overall letter grade to each charity. But what does it tell us about the effectiveness of the charities being rated? Probably very little.
The Overlooked Older Donor
In November 2022, The Winnipeg Foundation, announced a $500 million estate donation from a 66-year-old businesswoman named Miriam Bergen. Ms Bergen is an exceptional example of a common but overlooked donor: the older person without kids.
An Estate Donation of a Company
On Giving Tuesday last month, The Winnipeg Foundation announced a $500 million estate donation from a local donor, Miriam Bergen. The donation is of two companies. Appleton Holdings Ltd., which owns Edison Properties, which in turn holds 27 rental apartment and commercial buildings in Winnipeg.
Is 50 percent enough for the very wealthy?
I was at a recent event where Brett Wilson – the Calgary entrepreneur, former investment banker and CBC Dragons’ Den personality – spoke about philanthropy. He criticized Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for setting their Giving Pledge target of 50 percent of net worth too low. Giving half of one’s estate is not enough if you are very wealthy, said Wilson.
Canadian Charities Working Internationally
A regulatory system, and the laws that underpin it, is ideally enabling but by necessity limiting. It’s true in business, and it should be equally true with charities. What is, however, the right balance between support and limits?
The Canadian Donor’s Guide
It is always fascinating to watch evolution in progress. I grew up with the Canadian Donor’s Guide. For the last 26 years this publication has been Canada’s preeminent annual guide to charitable giving. It started out as a bound listing of charities distributed to the legal community, but with the electronic age it has changed to remain relevant.
Big Charities, Big Marketers
Looking back at 2013, I’ve been reminded daily of the economic weight of philanthropy. The reminders are the large-format ads that run in The Globe and Mail. Being a reader of print edition I’ve noticed that the biggest advertisers on many days are “institutional” charities — especially publicly-funded universities and hospital foundations. Some days the majority of the full-page ads are from these charities. They are celebrating gifts, donors, and faculty — or simply bragging and promoting the cause.
The Royal Wedding and Philanthropy
The spectacle of Will & Kate’s wedding today prompts thoughts about philanthropy and matrimony.
The End of Endowments
The economic swells of the last 18 months stress-tested the system of charitable endowments. Headlines announced spectacular losses to these long-term funds. My favourite was the headline to a Vanity Fair article that chronicled “Harvard’s Big, Dumb Financial Train Wreck.” The world biggest endowment lost $11 billion of its $36.9 billion.1 While it is tempting to chortle along with the voyeurs and cynics, Harvard is experiencing the worst financial crisis in its 373-year history. When the need to draw down capital is factored in, it will probably take more than a decade for the endowment to return to its peak.