So what is this ABOUT the giving pledge

Since 2010, 127 of the world's wealthiest individuals and families have joined the Giving Pledge, publicly declaring their intentions to commit the majority of their assets to philanthropic causes. Glasspockets is keeping an eye on the Giving Pledge, providing an in-depth picture of the participants and their publicly-known charitable activities. - See more at: http://www.glasspockets.org/philanthropy-in-focus/eye-on-the-giving-pledge#sthash.lkFbmaak.dpuf

Since 2010, 127 of the world's wealthiest individuals and families have joined the Giving Pledge, publicly declaring their intentions to commit the majority of their assets to philanthropic causes. Glasspockets is keeping an eye on the Giving Pledge, providing an in-depth picture of the participants and their publicly-known charitable activities. - See more at: http://www.glasspockets.org/philanthropy-in-focus/eye-on-the-giving-pledge#sthash.lkFbmaak.dpuf

Ever since Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates formed the Giving Pledge in 2010, enlisting American billionaires to commit at least half of their wealth to charity, one question has hovered: why did the founders focus solely on domestic fortunes? The reason, Buffett now tells Forbes:  “I felt we had our hands full in the U.S.”

http://www.glasspockets.org/philanthropy-in-focus/eye-on-the-giving-pledge

http://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2013/02/19/the-giving-pledge-goes-global-warren-buffett-details-americas-latest-export/

August 5, 2010 

The Giving Pledge’s Message: Philanthropy Is Not a Solo Act  By Joel Fleishman and Thomas J. Tierney

In 1889 the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie wrote an essay outlining his “gospel of wealth” to encourage his rich contemporaries to give their money away in the service of society. To his disappointment, none responded.

In Carnegie’s time, big philanthropy barely existed—America’s gilded age produced many mansions but few engaged philanthropists.

Today, and in sharp contrast with other countries, many of America’s wealthiest (along with others far less well off) routinely make the astonishing personal decision to give away large shares of their hard-earned money (in the aggregate, the equivalent of about 2.2 percent of America’s gross domestic product every year). They give to assist the poor, to clean the air, and to champion the rights and freedoms of people around the world.

http://philanthropy.com/article/The-Giving-Pledge-s-Message-/123776/

Since 2010, 127 of the world's wealthiest individuals and families have joined the Giving Pledge, publicly declaring their intentions to commit the majority of their assets to philanthropic causes. Glasspockets is keeping an eye on the Giving Pledge, providing an in-depth picture of the participants and their publicly-known charitable activities. - See more at: http://www.glasspockets.org/philanthropy-in-focus/eye-on-the-giving-pledge#sthash.lkFbmaak.dpuf

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
July 21, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/