Philanthropy becomes a symbol of wealth as more billionaires pledge their fortunes to charity.

• Warren Buffet and Bill Gate’s philanthropic challenge to the wealthy encourages more wealthy families to give.
• As a result, philanthropy is rapidly becoming a status symbol.
• Not only is there a growing expectation for wealthy families to give their money away, they are expected to be actively involved in philanthropy.
• Some are worried that if philanthropy is seen as a privilege of the wealthy, it will devalue the charity endeavors of regular Americans.

Facts & Figures

• Individual Americans gave more than $227 billion in 2009.

Best Quote

“Clearly pressure on the elite is high right now to say that they are giving money away and that will make it trendy. People who have enough money to give away but maybe haven’t thought about that… those folks will want to do what Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are doing.” – Stacy Palmer, Editor, The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Tags: Bill Gates, charity, philanthropy, Warren Buffet, wealth