For the past year, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have been campaigning to get other American billionaires to donate at least half of their fortunes to charity.

• People are asked to donate their money either during their lifetime or after death.
• Most of the money raised by charities comes from normal people donating $5-$50 at a time.
• Gates and Buffett encourage large donors to publicly pledge and explain their decision.

Facts and Figures

• Buffett donated 99% of his $46 billion fortune to charity in 2006.
• Gates and Buffett believe they can generate $600 billion through these pledges.
• American philanthropies received $300 billion in donations in 2009.
• Only 17 people on the Forbes’s 400 wealthiest people in America are also on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the most generous American donors.

Best Quote

“The pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract. It does not involve pooling money or supporting a particular set of causes or organizations.” – A written statement by Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft Corporation and Warren Buffett, chairmenn and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.