Too many people want to approach the Gates Foundation to solve all of their nonprofit fundraising problems.
An excellent article in The Wall Street Journal interviewed Melinda Gates about how the Gates Foundation sets giving priorities. She noted that while they are the biggest foundation at $60 billion, this number is dwarfed by the $60 billion the state of California spends on education each and every year and the $29 billion spent by NIH. So they have to be selective. They want to help the maximum number of people per dollar. Right now their efforts focus on malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Leverage is a key component of the Gates Foundation strategy: "What is the catalytic role that a foundation can play in the world? . . . how can we bring others along into these problems we are working on -- the U.S. education system; gigantic global health issues; work against poverty, what we call global development. Ultimately to solve those problems it's going to take governments. But what can we do that a government can't do? We can take risks with our money that a government can't."
Tom Wilson
Author, Winning Gifts
Permanent Link: Gates Foundation Insights
http://majorgiftsguru.com/2008/06/gates-foundation-insights.html
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