Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19: 21-24 NRSVue
Do you remember The Giving Pledge, a commitment by 40 of the wealthiest Americans to give away at least half of their fortunes? This was an initiative created by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates, no longer together as a couple. At the time, 2010 this wealth was about $600 billion, so it was a big deal.
While there much ballyhoo about this commitment to generosity there were misgivings as well. According to an article in the New York Times:
“It can look like it’s totally a P.R. thing, like they are royalty,” said Ellen Remmer, chief executive of the Philanthropic Initiative, explaining why there has been a mixed reaction to the pledge. “You have to remember, the reason we’ve had this golden age of philanthropy is because we’ve had this incredible concentration of wealth, and the pledge is a reminder of that.”
It turns out that those concerns were well founded. According to a recent Fortune article, only 9 of the 256 billionaires actually followed through on giving away half their wealth. The pledge was always a moral commitment rather than a legally binding contract and why would we think that people become immensely wealthy by having a strong moral compass? There has to be a lot of trampling to the top, and accumulating more is an essential aspect of the game.
Lest we become overly sanctimonious, we can all ask whether we are committed to Jesus' radical teachings about what we have and how we share it. It's a message we aren't inclined to heed, even when we assume we aren't wealthy.
According to The Institute for Policy Studies’ report "The Giving Pledge at 15" remains mostly unfulfilled, with most signatories far wealthier now than when they joined,
Key findings:
- 256 individuals, couples, or families have signed the Giving Pledge, including 194 from the U.S. and 62 from other countries. Of the U.S. signers, 110 remain billionaires, with combined wealth of $1.7 trillion—about 13% of all U.S. billionaires.
- Among the original 57 U.S. signers in 2010, 32 are still billionaires. Their collective net worth has increased by 283% since signing (166% adjusted for inflation). Only 11 of the original group are no longer billionaires, mainly because their wealth fell below the threshold, not due to giving.
- Giving is mostly to intermediaries: Of an estimated $206 billion donated by the original 2010 Pledgers, roughly 80% ($164 billion) has gone into private foundations—with only a small fraction moved into donor-advised funds. In 2023, 44 foundations tied to these billionaires held $120 billion in assets and paid out a median of 9.2%, often far below the appreciated value of those assets.
- Wealth is outpacing giving: For most, the speed of wealth accumulation exceeds charitable donations, making the pledge functionally impossible to fully realize at current trajectories.
- Tax and public impact: If all living original Pledgers gave enough to meet the promise today, nearly $367 billion would flow to charity. However, such gifts would lead to as much as $272 billion in forgone federal tax revenue, reducing support for public programs, since wealthy donors can claim up to 74% in charitable tax deductions.
- Concentration of philanthropic power: The report warns of a coming “Great Wealth Transfer” that, combined with favorable tax law and slow charitable payout rates, will further entrench billionaire family foundations, concentrate power, and undermine democratic accountability.
Policy recommendations from the report include:
- Raising minimum payout requirements and ensuring funds flow swiftly from foundations and DAFs to working charities, not parked for years.
- Increasing transparency, public accountability, and enforcement to curb abuses of charitable vehicles for personal or political gain.
- Taxing large fortunes more fairly in order to slow excessive accumulation and reduce dependence on private philanthropy.
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