Chinese billionaires can find own forms of charity
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Warren Buffett and Bill Gates had finished their dinner with a select group of Chinese philanthropists, and now the questions have begun.
What was the purpose of their visit? Did they achieve their goals? Can China ever have its own version of the Giving Pledge?
To help us answer the three questions, we can look at three things about this trip that are certain.
The first is that it was bold. It was enough of a challenge, hard on the heels of the US re-cession, for Gates and Buffett to ask dozens of their fellow billionaires, several of whom were still nursing their stricken business empires, to pledge half of their wealth to good causes.
To then follow this unlikely success with a visit to China, where there would be immediate suspicion as to their motives, took no small courage.
Public leadership of this type is rare among philanthropists, many of whom still work with traditional reserve and privacy.
But, clearly, public leadership is crucial to innovation and problem-solving.
The second thing is that it was an excellent testament to the power of network-building. A philanthropist once said that the difficulty of giving money away is that, unlike when you're making money, there is no ready-made infrastructure to assist you in doing so.
When you are creating wealth, there are lawyers, bankers, strategy consultants and fellow entrepreneurs to help you. But when you start to use it for good causes, the same support networks are often nowhere to be seen.
Buffett and Gates, with their visit and in partnership with local philanthropic leaders, are putting those networks in place to support Chinese donors in their future giving by reaching out across cultures, engaging, and learning as they go.
The third thing is that this visit, among the first of this dynamic duo's consultations outside the US, was a sign of the growing importance of Chinese philanthropy. To describe China's economic growth over the past two decades as aston-ishing is almost an understatement. In fact, the country now ranks second in the world in the number of billionaires.
What is most encouraging is that it is precisely this group of entrepreneurs and wealth generators who are increasingly looking to the social problem-solving arena as a space where they can provide their significant skills, energy and financial assets, just as Gates, Buffett and numerous other entrepreneurs internationally have done.
This is all very well and good but where, then, does this leave us with the three questions that began this article? Why did they visit China, did they achieve what they wanted to, and will China ever see its own Giving Pledge? Looking at both the statements issued by Buffett and Gates, and looking at our own visit to China with a group of philanthropists earlier this year, it seems clear why they traveled to China.
They came to see for themselves the great opportunities for giving that the country presents, opportunities not only for more capital coming into the country's philanthropic sector, but also to learn about new approaches to giving, new models that are distinctively Chinese but exportable to other parts of the world. If their goal, then, was simply to find out more, then it was certainly achieved.
Last, and most crucially, will China ever see its own Giving Pledge? No - and yes. Philanthropy is done differently in every country and culture, and so we should not expect to see Chinese donors adopting exactly the same model made successful by Buffett and Gates. So, there may not be a Chinese Giving Pledge as such.
However, it is very possible that Chinese philanthropists will take inspiration from the visit, and form a strong group of givers all by themselves. These can be givers who, like Buffett and Gates, not only support social initiatives but also exercise public leadership in promoting philanthropic giving, encouraging peers to apply their significant talents to social problem-solving, thus building the networks for shared learning, collaboration and increased impact.
In recent years, the publication of the Hurun rich lists have shown the capacity of this country's donors for great generosity, something which, as Buffett and Gates make their way home, leaves much cause for optimism.
The author is chief executive of the Institute for Philanthropy (London). forum@globaltimes. com.cn
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