JEDDAH/SEATTLE, 27 June 2006 — With Warren Buffett’s announcement that he will be sending about $1.5 billion every year to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity has a new, happy challenge: how to distribute twice as much money each year.
Meanwhile, back in Saudi Arabia, some are facing the less-happier challenge of simply getting more people to engage in philanthropy, and to do it with regular donations to reputable organizations.
“We wish that our businessmen would donate similar amounts to reliable and transparent charity organizations,” said Mohammed Baqees, president of Al-Bir Charity Organization in Jeddah, who points out that a quarter of the amount the Gates Foundation spends annually is approximately what all charity organizations spend in our region. “We have businessmen donating fixed amounts every year. Yes, we would like them to increase their donations but most of all, we wish that more businessmen would donate annual fixed amounts,” Baqees added.
In a letter dated Monday, Buffett told Bill and Melinda Gates that the first donation of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock would go to the foundation next month. The foundation, which has assets of $29.1 billion, spends money on world health, poverty and increasing access to technology in developing countries.
In the United States, it focuses on education and technology in public libraries.
The money from Buffett, 75, comes with a significant catch. The letter says Buffett wants all his money to be distributed in the year it is donated, not added to the foundation’s assets for future giving. The foundation gave away $1.36 billion in 2005, so the Buffett commitment would effectively double its spending.
Buffett said he plans to give away 12,050,000 Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five foundations, which also include the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation named in honor of his wife and 350,000 shares for the three foundations run by each of his children.
The gifts would be worth nearly $37 billion, which represents the bulk of the $44 billion that Buffett’s stock holdings are worth today. Five-sixths of the shares will be earmarked for the Gates Foundation.
In Jeddah, Baqees said that Al-Bir was transparent and that anyone could come and observe how charity was dispensed. “Instead of businessmen giving money to those who are not in need, we can assure the public that our charity goes to those who need it,” said Baqees.
Nihad Awad, director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said Muslim countries were falling behind in charity.
“It’s a noble thing to do, to help needy people and places. We in the Muslim world are lagging behind when we should be pioneers as per our Islamic beliefs,” he said.
Nihad said that post 9-11 Islamic relief organizations have fallen into a trap of “the cycle of fear” about donating to organizations because of the fear of being accused of funding suspicious organizations that fall under the scrutiny of anti-terrorism investigations. Nihad called for more political encouragement and legal backup for Islamic relief organizations to combat the stigma.
— With input from agencies
