Sage of Omaha Encourages Philanthropy

Warren Buffett makes an excellent case, as reported by the Omaha World-Herald.

An excerpt.

“Billionaire Warren Buffett said philanthropists must be prepared for some efforts to fail, and that major charitable initiatives are taking too little risk if they meet their goals every time.

“Intelligent charity, big-time charity should tackle things where it’ll fail,” Buffett, 80, said Tuesday at a press conference in Bangalore, India. “If you succeed in everything you’re doing in charity, you’re attempting things that are too easy.”

“Buffett, the world’s third-wealthiest person, started the Giving Pledge with Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates in June, aiming to persuade U.S. billionaires to commit more than half of their wealth to charity. The chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is promoting philanthropy to billionaires around the world. He is in India for the first time after visiting South Korea earlier this week.

“Buffett has pledged the bulk of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropic organization, which combats poverty and disease and funds U.S. education initiatives.

“He has also made commitments to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late wife, and charities run by his three children. His donations have funded access to abortion, subsistence farming in developing nations, and efforts to reduce violence against women and girls.

“If everything they do is successful, they’re a failure,” Buffett says of his children. “Because it means they’re taking on things that are too easy. They should be taking on things that are tougher.”