What’s Your Philanthropy Score?
Written by Tim Seneff, NCFO Executive Advisor
“Let the rich people of tomorrow solve the problems of tomorrow” -Warren Buffet
The original Forbes list, the Forbes 400 ranking of America’s wealthiest people, has now entered its fifth decade, and it’s still achieving its original mission: to inform its readers about who owns what in this country, and to motivate them with a few hundred roadmaps to success. The American dream certainly manifests itself through the most recently published “who’s who” list which includes the likes of Musk, Bezos, Gates and Zuckerberg.
Over the past decade plus, however, the Forbes 400 has shifted its focus to something far more dynamic, to what Randall Lane (Forbes Chief Content Officer) calls an “in-person club dedicated to solving the world’s most intractable problems.”
In 2010, The Giving Pledge was created by Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates, as a way to “encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.” As of June 2022, the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Since The Pledge was created, Buffet has repeatedly gone on record stating his philosophy on wealth– money above a certain level has no inherent personal utility, and should be put to work for a higher purpose. To be sure, The Giving Pledge helped codify his, and other’s views that building bigger and bigger “charitable” barns made little sense.
Starting in 2018, Forbes began to rank America’s wealthiest individuals and families not just on their total wealth and how self-made they are, but also on their generosity. Members of the elite club are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most philanthropic. To come up with the scores, Forbes estimates each list member’s total lifetime giving. Dozens of journalists delved into public filings, from tax forms for private foundations to press releases, and reached out to 400 members and nonprofits as well. Additionally, Forbes looked at the percentage of their fortune they had given away. After weighting those two factors equally, they scored people accordingly.
Whether America’s wealthiest individuals and families want to be measured and scrutinized for their generosity, or lack thereof, the last decade has significantly increased the visibility of their philanthropic efforts. This increased visibility has led to high standards of accountability for the wealthy for how they are giving back to their respective communities.
So how does this apply to you and me? Considering some of the criteria mentioned above, what’s your philanthropy score? Do you have a compelling giving strategy? For me, this is a healthy reminder to lean into the important (and often not urgent) matters of defining God’s purpose of wealth for me and my family. Whether you feel like you have an obligation to talk about your philanthropy or not, we can all agree that increased transparency and self-reflection could ultimately spark more conversations about our God-given wealth and our respective commitment to the public good.