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» »Unlabelled » Why Indian billionaires are so bad at charity


LONDON: Ever wondered why Indian billionaires are so bad atcharity? A study by economists from the University of Southampton now helps to know why. 


Economists suggest that billionaires who have built their own fortunes are more likely to pledge to donate a large portion of their wealth to charities, than those who are heirs to family fortunes. 

The researchers examined written testaments of wealthy philanthropists who have signed up to The Giving Pledge - a venture which encourages billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth to charitable causes. 
It was launched in 2010 by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates. 

One of the researchers on the Southampton project, Dr Mirco Tonin, says "The written testaments of pledgers give us a fascinating insight into the philanthropic motivations of the extremely rich. They provide a unique window on a relatively small group of people who are key to the promotion of charitable causes." 
The results of the analysis highlighted two main insights: Self-made billionaires are more likely to sign the Giving Pledge, compared to those who inherited their fortunes. They also found that philanthropy is impact driven. In the Giving Pledge letters billionaires talk mostly about what kind of changes they want to achieve, often displaying a business-like attitude in their approach. 

The researchers concluded that in order for fundraisers to maximise their effectiveness in engaging billionaire donors they should target those with newly acquired fortunes, rather than heirs of dynasties and develop a detailed 'business plan' clearly pointing out the objectives behind any 'giving' and set out the means to achieve these. 

By May 2014, The Giving Pledge had 127 families from 12 different countries signed up, with the average age of donors being 69. The oldest pledger is David Rockefeller Sr, aged 99, and the youngest at 30 - co-founders of Facebook - Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz. 

The study authors, Dr Tonin, Dr Michael Vlassopoulos and Jana Sadeh, performed a textual analysis of the pledgers' letters and classified the expressed motivations for their 'giving' into 10 categories. These include the usual motives that have been associated with prosocial behaviour, such as the desire to make an impact, or the joy one derives from giving. They also considered additional motives, such as, the desire to dispense family wealth so as not to spoil one's heirs, the desire to leave a legacy and provide an example to others, or the sense of moral obligation to share wealth. 

Dr Tonin comments "The philanthropic activities of extremely rich individuals, such as, Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller and more recently Bill and Melinda Gates, have not only benefitted many people and causes, but have also inspired new generations of philanthropists". 

Wipro's Azim Premji recently became the only Indian billionaire to join Gates' $500 billion philanthropy club "Giving Pledge" along with Virgin founder Richard Branson, Sainsbury's chairman David Sainsbury, South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe and Vincent Tan Chee Yioun of Malaysia, owner of the Friendster social network, who is worth $1.2 billion. 

Announcing his decision to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropy, Premji said "I strongly believe that those of us, who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged. I will continue to act on this belief." Speaking to TOI earlier, Gates said that philanthropy can be "so much fun". 

Gates said, "Even as India has got wealthier, I am hopeful that philanthropy too will go up. I love to tell wealthy people how philanthropy is so much fun". 

In his annual letter recently, Gates said, "When Warren Buffett, Melinda, and I were in India in March 2011, we sat down with around 60 wealthy families to hear from them about Indian philanthropy and share our experiences. Azim Premji, one of the pioneers of philanthropy in India, joined us for the panel discussion. One thing that really struck me in both the Giving Pledge meeting and the India get-together is that a key factor holding people back from being even more generous is finding philanthropic endeavors that make them feel like they are having a significant and unique impact. It has me thinking a lot harder about how we can use the web to make it easier for givers of all sizes to connect to causes and see the results of their giving".

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