The Genesis and Evolution of Wealth & Giving Forum

A Statement on Wealth & Giving Forum
Glen Macdonald, President

Wealth & Giving Forum is the brainchild and dream of a philanthropist who ran a successful business and sold it for a significant windfall. Finding himself with riches beyond anything he could have imagined, he turned his attention full-time to philanthropy and to encouraging others to place their wealth in the service of others.

W&GF promotes greater and more effective giving among people of means, reflecting the founding philanthropist's belief that people of affluence can do much more to meet society's pressing needs.

Wealth & Giving Forum was founded upon the belief that if individuals of means could meet with their peers in private settings to talk about wealth and that they would make better choices. As such, W&GF offers donors an opportunity to engage in discourse and self-reflection in a safe and respectful atmosphere.

How did Wealth & Giving Forum come about?

To quote Malcolm Gladwell: "Those who are successful at creating social epidemics do not just do what they think is right. They deliberately test their intuitions."

W&GF tested the intuition of a philanthropist that if people of wealth embarked on a serious reflection of their own lives, their real purpose, and the extent of their own financial security, their charitable giving would increase dramatically. At the same time, they would impact more positively their communities and find greater happiness for themselves and their families. This follows from our belief that:

  • Through discernment about his money and one's life, individuals will realize that their wealth is a sacred opportunity to do good.
  • Many non-givers - people who held onto their wealth like trophies - are unfulfilled, and even unhappy.
  • The potential for impact is enormous: that the amount of untapped dollars of societal wealth was somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 billion annually in the United State alone. [1]

Clearly, a great opportunity is within our grasp thanks to great affluence, unfulfilled individuals of means unfulfilled, and many unmet social needs. In some respects, the on of Wealth & Giving Forum was founded to address this staggering imbalance.

[1] See Claude Rosenberg, Jr., Wealthy & Wise (A synopsis of the book Wealthy & Wise) Newtithing [TM] Group, San Francisco, 1998.

What does W&GF do and how is it different?

We help individuals and families of means inspire, motivate, and educate one another about the power of generosity.

We convene great people and great ideas, away from the burdens and noise of daily life, where Peers share their challenges and aspirations with one another, tell their stories, and exchange lessons learned about how best to be effective in putting their riches toward the service of others.

Wealth & Giving Forum is cause and vehicle "neutral", or rather we are "pro" all decisions once true discernment has taken place. The focus of the discourse is generosity: a trait common to all cultures and all religions. It is also part of a broader movement among families of means to be part of a larger community and to seek advice from their peers in an environment of mutual respect and trust.

This is a "right" time in history.

We have witnessed and will continue to witness an exponential growth of affluence around the world.Many of these people are achieving financial security at much younger age; the intergenerational transfer of wealth in the United States alone is predicted to be a staggering $45 to $150 trillion over the next 50 years. And roughly $7 to $ 20 trillion of this will be in the form of charitable bequests. [2]

[2] John J. Havens ad Paul G. Schervish. Millionaires and the Millennium: Prospects for a Golden Age of Philanthropy. Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, Boston College, 1999.
www.bc.edu/research/cwp/meta-elements/pdf/m_m.pdf

There is also a increasing interest in philanthropy among the wealthy:

  • Individuals of wealth are truly financially secure - and now they find themselves free to "find a deeper purpose for their accumulated riches." John Maynard Keynes predicted this as early as 1930 when he wrote the Economic Possibilities of our Grandchildren. He suggested that many countries would achieve such great and pervasive levels of affluence that the financial security question would no longer be the principal preoccupation of its citizens. Instead, free from the worry of financial security, the major question would become how to use wealth wisely for the common good.
  • It is impossible to insulate one-self and loved ones from war, famine, destructive natural forces and acts of terror.
  • Advances in technology, logistics, and management allow for greater leverage and scaled solutions than in the past. The investment of societal wealth in a good cause can have a dramatic and positive return on investment.

What lessons can we draw from the Wealth & Giving experience?

First, it is clear that there is a yearning among families of great means to hear what others are doing in their philanthropy, and to learn from one another. Second, the promotion of generosity that speaks to the heart on a cause-neutral basis works. Families who have engaged with us have moved an additional $100 million into charitable or social endeavors.

Clearly, donors are looking for opportunities to collaborate with one another and to leverage their dollars for greater impact, knowing that the two go hand-in-hand.

Finally, a real shift is underway, with donors now taking charge on a greater scale. Perfunctory check writing is passé. Donors now bring their passion, ingenuity, networks, and management expertise to the table. And more and more donors are recognizing that they need the help of experts in the field and institutions already in place.

But there is a more important lesson from what we have accomplished thus far - and it's about the power of an intuition, the power of an idea, and the power of human action. In many respects, Wealth & Giving Forum is the story of one man's intuition and his choice not to ignore it. And it's a story about the power inherent in the choice to take action.

As Gladwell notes "...if there is difficulty and volatility in the world..., there is a large measure of hopefulness as well...Simply by finding and reaching those few special people who hold so much social power, we can shape the course of social epidemics. In the end, "tipping points" are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push - in just the right place - it can be tipped."

Based on remarks by Glen Macdonald at the Wharton Global Family Alliance in Dubai in March 2005 and at the W&GF gathering at the Greenbrier in October 2005