'The Giving Pledge' - For Philanthropists

The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage world's wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. It is not a legal, paper-signed contract but just a commitment. The donation can be either during the course of the lifetime or after the death.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates

This campaign was founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in 2009 and generally it focuses on the billionaires. In 2010, it was made public and since then around 120 billionaires across worldwide has joined this campaign. Few of them committed to donate half of their wealth.

In India, Philanthropist is not a specialized area where people are used to it. Although few contributed to non-profit organizations and charitable trusts, it started to boom just 6 or 7 years down the lane.

Wipro chairman and founder, Azim Premji is the first Indian to join the league of this campaign.  His estimated worth is about $16 billion which is equivalent to INR 87,000 crore.

Azim Premji

Oh his letter to The Giving Pledge foundation, he wrote “I was deeply influenced by Gandhi's notion of holding one's wealth in trusteeship, to be used for the betterment of society and not as if one owned it"

Few other notable Indian Philanthropists are Nandan Nilekani, Vinod Khosla, Shiv Nadar, Mukesh Ambani, Vinod Gupta and Vineet Nayyar.

It’s not a question of ‘Why should I give?’ but it’s all about ‘How much I can give’. Even if an individual donates 2 – 3 percent of the income, it can fulfill one person’s basic need. But the reluctance is more. Hope one day people realizes and respect the worth of people than money and being wealthy.