19May

How India’s New Philanthropists Are Working to Bring About Systemic Change

Filed in Economy | Philanthropy | Responsibility

When steel baron Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, then the fifth richest man in the world and the richest Indian, was asked at a media interaction in Mumbai about his views on philanthropy, he had a simple answer. “I am too young for charity,” he said. That was in 2006 and Mittal was 55. One year later, it was the turn of his son Aditya, a Wharton alumnus and chief financial officer in his father’s empire, to be asked the same question by The Sunday Times of London. Aditya Mittal, then 33, had a slightly different take on the issue. “At some point I may want to do something completely different, like dedicate my life to philanthropy,” he said. His plan is to establish a string of health centers in India to reduce infant mortality. Father and son may be based in London now, but when Mittal Jr. gets into giving, it won’t be long distance. Continue Reading

Article source: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4597

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03Dec

Apple’s Reasons for Denying Charitable Donation Apps?

Filed in Philanthropy | Responsibility | Social | Social media

Why Does Apple Make Donation Apps So Hard?

I’m trying to determine the advantages Apple finds in denying applications which allow individuals to make charitable donations.  This fact has been well described by Gizmodo “Why does apple make donation apps so hard?” with a quote from Anu Jayar from Paypal, “I can confirm that we added the donations feature to our iPhone app in version 2.5 in mid August. We removed the feature in version 3.0 of our PayPal Mobile iPhone app. This was done at Apple’s request."

Apple’s policy on the issue is clear, even if the reasoning behind it is not. 

21.   Charities and contributions

21.1  Apps that include the ability to make donations to recognized charitable organizations must be free

21.2  The collection of donations must be done via a web site in Safari or an SMS

There is wide speculation in the comments to Gizmodo’s article as to why Apple would have such a policy.  Liability, unwillingness to reduce 30% commission, more likely the difficulty in determining when to reduce / forego the 30% commission, plans for an Apple payment system, Apple’s historical aversion to corporate philanthropy and others. 

Nick Aldridge of MissionFish, the PayPal Mobile App and GetGiving App partner, points out the cost to charities for Apples policy and speculates it may be a combination of factors that is preventing Apple from addressing the issue.

Jack Shapiro, the CEO of PRX, the company behind the popular This American Life iPhone and Public Radio Player apps, is much more critical of Apple’s reasoning and objectives.

The excuse that “Apple doesn’t want to be held responsible for ensuring that the charitable funds make it to the final destination” is a cop-out.

Apple continues to receive the benefit of the doubt when pressed with Responsibility Issues. It will be interesting to see how if the heat gets turned up this time.  Author of Beth’s Blog and co-author of The Networked Nonprofit book, Beth Kantor, is telling everyone donation apps is why she’s going to dump her iPhone for an Android unit.

care2 has a petition asking “Apple: Support Our Great Nonprofits” with 319 signatures. The Social Network Airwaves touch on this issue, but certainly it has not taken off.  Shapiro’s article is more than 6 months old, and it’s hard to believe they will reach their goal of 5,000 any time soon.  This is the target in order to send a letter to Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, highlighting this issue and asking for Apple to help resolve it.

We will see if others sign-up.

07Mar

America’s Biggest Paydays From Vanity Fair

Filed in Philanthropy

VF’s list of America’s 50 Richest Paydays is worth a glance.  However, I could not overlook Peter Newcomb editorial comments regarding the largest two “winfalls”.  Regarding Bill Gates’ take last year, Newcomb wrote, “Throw in a few hundred million dollars in dividend income and his impending retirement will be all the more comfortable.” Newcomb then added this comment regarding Pete Peterson‘s take from the Blackston IPO, “He intends to give a substantial portion of the proceeds to charity.”

Like or dislike Mr. Gates and Microsoft, I find it difficult to reason that any wealth he accumulates at this point will go anywhere other than in support of the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  And while it is always important to point out staunch philanthropists like Mr. Peterson, it is disingenuous to suggest anything less from Bill Gates.

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