Turning wealth into good works
With unprecedented wealth comes the moral question of what to do with it – and many Americans are choosing to give it to charity.
from the June 11, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
"We don't know how this is going to turn out – whether it will be constructive or corrosive," he added. "That depends on the direction in which this extraordinary wealth is funneled."
Current models of philanthropy are very donor-centered, says Ms. Gary, whose great-grandfather invented the dial telephone. She gave away her inheritance, and says her own history led her to work on connecting wealthy people with community leaders and activists to bring about social change.
"I grew up living in five houses, with 35 people – African-American and Hispanic domestic workers – looking after me and my family, with planes, helicopters, conspicuous wealth," she says. When she was 9, during the civil rights movement, she began to grasp "the contradictions of living that lifestyle."
Studying with Joseph Campbell at Sarah Lawrence College, "I had to think about who I was and what it meant to be a wealthy, white, WASP woman in America in 1973," she adds. She took more interest in what her economic class was doing. "Most giving was about social networking, giving to peers, going to parties, and doing a certain amount of noblesse oblige."
Donation, but also involvement
Concerned about what she considers too great a gap between rich and poor in a democracy, Gary is bringing people in the community with "entrepreneurial, creative, and wisdom capital" together with herself and others who have "financial and influence capital.
"Together we are much richer in what we can co-create," she says. For instance, Houston has some 99,000 millionaires, and this summer she'll take a few of them on site visits to worthy nonprofit programs.
Today many philanthropists want to be involved with groups they fund. The Bolder Giving Initiative is the project of Christopher and Anne Ellinger. Christopher received an unexpected inheritance in his 20s and, cautious by temperament, he says he "wasn't going to make any decision for at least five years." Instead, the couple educated themselves about giving and then began doing the same for other wealthy young people, founding new organizations and publications.
"People want to be engaged, not just write a check," he says. Concerned about cutbacks in the arts, they've given money to projects involving theater arts in community development, in which they personally participate. "My life has totally changed through the choices I've made," he says. "Initially I was thrown when so many people knew I had money, but it forced me to get my act together ... and get to do work that I love."
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