Collaborating for a Bigger Bang
“We had become a de-facto co-funder group: We were funding a lot of the same poverty-fighting organizations, had similar philosophies, and liked each other’s company.” That’s what a group of Read more…
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Radios Against Genocide
Ever since he learned details of the Holocaust as an eighth grader, John Montgomery has been haunted by the idea of genocide, and determined to do his part to prevent Read more…
Preempting Nuclear Enrichment
Philanthropist Warren Buffett is an adviser to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit led by former Senator Sam Nunn that seeks to reduce threats from atomic weapons. Working through the Read more…
Giving Pledge Spreads Philanthropy Abroad
The twentieth century has witnessed an explosion in the number of billionaires. Under the leadership of Bill Gates, a group of billionaires announced a “Giving Pledge” in 2010, through which Read more…
American Missionaries
Having done so for two centuries, America still dispatches more missionaries overseas each year than any other nation. Research by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity found that Read more…
Promoting Good Government Abroad
Investor and U.S. immigrant Len Blavatnik made a major gift to Oxford University in 2010 to establish a brand new School of Government at the nearly 1,000-year-old college. The primary Read more…
Robertson Adopts New Zealand
U.S. hedge-fund pioneer Julian Robertson developed a deep affection for New Zealand after taking a sabbatical there with his family in 1978. He subsequently developed a few real-estate properties, and Read more…
Road Safety in Poor Countries
Public health has been a hallmark of Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropy. In 2007, the Bloomberg Family Foundation donated $9 million for pilot programs promoting motorcycle helmet use in Vietnam and Mexico. Read more…
A People’s Bank in Rwanda
In 2002, investment banker and entrepreneur Dale Dawson became interested in efforts to rebuild the war-torn east African nation of Rwanda. (See 2002 entry on our companion list of achievements Read more…
Bolstering Property Rights
The Omidyar Network, the philanthropy created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam, is organized around five major initiatives. One is property rights. This dates back to 2007, Read more…
Bloomberg Campaign Against Tobacco
It is estimated that tobacco use could kill a billion people globally during this century. One of the major initiatives of Bloomberg Philanthropies since 2007 has been an effort to Read more…
Extending the Green Revolution to Africa
Three quarters of the world’s poorest people gain their income and their food by farming small plots about the size of a football field. The Green Revolution (see 1943 entry) Read more…
Adopting a Whole Neighborhood (Tangelo Park)
Just a quarter of a mile from the tourist centers of Orlando, Florida, sat a squalid neighborhood plagued with drug problems and lousy schooling. Harris Rosen, who had made his Read more…
Youth Entrepreneurs (Kansas and Missouri)
Charles Koch is known for distilling the rules that make free markets work, and applying them to both his business endeavors and his philanthropy. He began this in his hometown Read more…
Matching Local Health-care Solutions (49 states)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, established by the head of Johnson & Johnson, has a special interest in health care and is one of America’s largest foundations. Big national foundations Read more…
From State to Local (Minnesota)
William and Maude McKnight established the McKnight Foundation in 1953, after William had helped build the 3M Company. As the foundation has grown into one of the largest in the Read more…
Gabriel Homes (Virginia)
Gabriel Homes, a nonprofit launched by Catholics in northern Virginia, was a pioneer in helping people with mental disabilities. It was started by local residents who saw appropriate housing as Read more…
Elevating Home City and State (Louisville)
“Do things that will promote the well-being of the citizens of the city of Louisville and the state of Kentucky. Kentucky has long been thought of as a backward state Read more…
Morehead, Cain, and Levine Mint Scholars (North Carolina)
The Morehead-Cain Scholarship is a prestigious merit-based award that attracts top students to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by paying not only all tuition and board, but Read more…
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
In 1766, missionaries of the Moravians, a Protestant group mostly living in what is now the Czech Republic, arrived to establish a settlement in the North Carolina wilderness. The Moravians Read more…