Far more billionaires take residence in the United States than any other country on the globe; further, the United States is home to the largest gap in income within its population than any other on the third rock from the Sun – go figure, right?
The United States – if we assume the United States is a living, breathing person, that is – is home to countless big-time philanthropist, including the likes of Warren Buffett – he claimed he would give away roughly 99 percent of his fortune either before or as soon as he died – Bill Gates – he’s currently the second-richest person in the world and regularly donates millions upon millions to solid causes around the world via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – and Mark Zuckerberg, though the young Facebook CEO and president hasn’t given away anywhere near as much as the former two figures.
Mindless, aimless philanthropy is certain to benefit some person, somewhere – wherever that may be, though the big-time givers mentioned above simply don’t give away their hard-earned money to everyone.
Strategic philanthropy is growing in popularity
Most people aren’t familiar with the term strategic philanthropy; it essentially refers to giving money and other assets charitably to good causes in a defined, systematic, regular, patterned way.
Following is a rough outline of the steps one needs to take if they want to give strategically. While most of us aren’t in the same positions as Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway, it’s still awesome to see the world’s richest people redistribute the bulk of their wealth to organizations, groups, and other good causes.
First, givers need to think back to big successes in philanthropy. For example, the Aaron Diamond Foundation did a lot of hard work creating the cocktail of powerful prescription drugs that can miraculously be used to reduce the count of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) viruses in the human body. It makes sense to incorporate high-performing aspects of the world’s most memorable philanthropic endeavors.
Next, thoroughly look into the area of life you or your business – or both – wish to change. Never try to fix any system with force when charity is involved.
Lastly, always specify concrete results you expect to garner from such campaigns.