The World Top 25 Givers: Why Their Ranking Isn’t Measured by Money, It’s Results That Count

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=magic+johnson&iid=4778709″ src=”e/a/4/a/Capitol_Hill_Conference_5e36.jpg?adImageId=7971733&imageId=4778709″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]

Former basketball player Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, one of the 25 on the world list of top givers,  seen here speaking to journalist Ted Koppel at a forum on HIV/AIDS on Capitol Hill on May 13, 2009 in Washington, DC. Tuesday 1 December marked World Aids Day. Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images). Content © 2009 Getty Images All rights reserved.

[tweetmeme]

If you still need evidence that money is not evil, this is it. It’s what people do with money and wealth that renders it either helpful or downright rotten. This story celebrates the former.

A list of the world’s top givers has been jointly compiled by Barrons Magazine and the Global Philanthropy Group, a consultancy which advises philanthropic organisations.  Bill Gates isn’t at the top of this list. Not quite. Also, we didn’t spot any Pacific organisations, governments or individuals on the list. Those who made this list have either directly, or indirectly, benefited people across cultures, walks of life, and including those in Pacific-specific locations. Such as the island state of Hawaii.

For example, the world’s top place getter is responsible for providing the state of Hawaii with what’s reported to be the largest donation in Hawaii’s history. In addition, they’ve been lead sponsors for at least one other Hawaii initiative, and helped to support others. We suspect that’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of their giving in the Pacific region.

Among this list: a sitting politician, two former US Presidents, a celebrity or two, and at least one American sportsperson. The most represented group in this list are online entrepreneurs and hedge fund managers.

THE NAME OF THE GAME IN PHILANTHROPY this year is to make your dollars go far — very far. With the recession squeezing donors and charities alike, it’s more important than ever to make sure your giving really makes a difference.

Ideally, each dollar you give will transform itself into $3 or $4 of benefits for your chosen causes — from improving local schools to easing world poverty. That’s high-impact giving, and some philanthropists are raising it to a high form of art.

…While rankings in other publications highlight those who give the most money, we chose to focus on those who are getting the results.
Barron’s Magazine

So guess who got the number one spot, and why?

1. eBay Founder Pierre & Pam Omidyar, Omidyar Network

Pierre Omidyar says the best piece of philanthropic advice he ever received was this: Don’t set up a foundation. The Omidyar Network operates more like a venture-capital outfit, investing in businesses and nonprofits that aim for social change.

Committed $300 million since ’04 to such innovations as Wikipedia, “micro insurance” and technology to improve government transparency.

2. eBay’s Second Employee: Jeff Skoll, Skoll Foundation

…(He) makes sure in his giving that “the positive social returns vastly exceed the amount of time and money involved.” He’s done that for 10 years by awarding unrestricted three-year grants to 59 entrepreneurial groups trying to build a more peaceful and prosperous world.

The results can be stunning: One of this year’s grant recipients has trained armies of large rats to sniff for landmines in Africa, remnants of brutal civil wars there.

3. Chris and Jamie Cooper-Hohn: The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation

As the manager of one of Britain’s largest activist hedge funds, Chris Cooper-Hahn has earned the label “ruthless.” The children of India and Sub-Saharan Africa sure wouldn’t know it. Chris sends a good chunk of the fund’s profits and fees to a foundation run by his wife Jamie, swelling it to $2.5 billion in assets. The foundation then uses leverage of another kind, aiming, for instance, to save kids by saving their mothers.

4. Eli & Edythe Broad, The Broad Foundations

“Is it something that no one else is doing?” … Broad Art Foundation, a lending library to thousands of galleries and museums, to training superintendents to run more efficient schools. They also fund young doctors’ medical research that isn’t yet ready for grants from the National Institutes of Health….the Broads have given away more than $400 million since 1999.

Mantra: Carnegie’s “He who dies with wealth, dies with shame.”

5. Tech Billionaire Thomas Siebel, The Meth Project

…Siebel zeroed in on methamphetamine after a pal in Montana, who happens to be a sheriff, showed him how the homemade drug was devastating rural America. Siebel, 57 years old, bankrolled a massive ad campaign in Montana — 2,000 billboards across the state, 61,000 TV spots — to warn teens.

Result: Montana dropped from its No. 5 ranking in the country for meth abuse to No. 39. Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Wyoming, Colorado and Hawaii all have replicated the program, with more states to come.

6. Online entrepreneurs Donna & Philip Berber, A Glimmer of Hope Foundation

After Philip Berber sold his online trading firm, CyBerCorp, to Charles Schwab in 2000 for $100 million, he and his wife Donna focused their philanthropic firepower on just one country: Ethiopia.

7. Bill & Melinda Gates, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

This is the world’s largest foundation with $34 billion in assets and more on the way from Warren Buffett. It’s also hugely ambitious, aiming for such goals as an AIDS vaccine.

Irons in the Fire: Projects in more than 100 countries. Notable success in curbing childhood malaria.
Advice to Newbies: “The first thing is in your own community, and then take the next step in poor countries.”

8. Hedge Fund Manager Paul Tudor Jones II, Robin Hood Foundation

…Paul Tudor Jones II set up his foundation in 1988 to raise money from his peers to help New York’s poorest. Robin Hood’s board, including GE’s Jeffrey Immelt, hedge-fund giant Steven Cohen and actress Gwyneth Paltrow, funds all expenses, so all money raised goes directly to the poor.

9. Texas Oil Heiresses Helen and Swanee Hunt, Women Moving Millions

…daughters of Texas oil mogul H.L. Hunt…They tap successful women across the country to write checks for at least $1 million for women’s causes ranging from basic health to job training. They have raised $180 million in just three years.

Hard Sell: “I’m not above shaming people into giving,” says Helen.

10. Virgin Airline Owner, Richard Branson, Virgin Unite

Branson…in 2006 pledged all his profits from transportation businesses over the next 10 years — perhaps $3 billion — to developing green energy.

11. John Wood, Room to Read

12. Arpad Busson, ARK: Absolute Return for Kids

13. Bill & Hillary Clinton, William J. Clinton Foundation

14. Jane Rosenthal, Craig Hatkoff & Robert De Niro, Tribeca Film Festival

15. Jimmy Carter, The Carter Center

16. Sunil Mittal, Bharti Foundation

17. Brad Pitt, Make It Right Foundation

18. John Fisher, The KIPP Foundation

19. George Soros, Open Society Institute

20. Howard G. Buffett, Howard G. Buffett Foundation

No website.

Warren Buffett in 2006 gave each of his three children an extra $1 billion or so to fund their philanthropic endeavors.

21. Earvin “Magic” Johnson, The Magic Johnson Foundation

22. Marcos de Moraes, Zip Educação/Instituto Rukha

23. Jennifer and Peter Buffett, NoVo Foundation

24. William Barron Hilton, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

25. David and Cheryl Duffield, Maddie’s Fund

Interviews with 7 of the world’s givers