Monday, February 24, 2014

James Piereson’s Advice to Aspiring Philanthropists - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

James Piereson’s Advice to Aspiring Philanthropists - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: In his recent op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Simon Foundation chief James Piereson has some unconventional counsel for wealthy people considering philanthropy.

Piereson cites the recent exchange between James Wilson and Bill Gates, where Wilson pushes back against Gates’s “giving pledge” initiative. Wilson advises against worrying about major giving until you’re 50—until then, focus on getting rich and raising your family. Those pursuits alone are more than enough to keep someone busy. Andrew Carnegie, who began his own philanthropy when in his 40s, said, “It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in the first place.” Gates himself did not engage in significant individual philanthropy while building Microsoft, emulating other major philanthropists like Carnegie, Warren Buffett, Thomas Monaghan, and T. Denny Sanford.

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