Donating
Thursday, May 11th
Version 3.0
5 pm
Donating is complicated.
Don’t donate, never only make donations of cash. Many times in-kind or purchasing assets needed is better.
Nonprofit organizations seek donations and oftentimes submit grant request, when grantor publishes grant availability
The problem
Many sophisticated organized large nonprofit organizations are funding machine. They often say that they support grassroots non-profit organizations close to the need.
For example a large natural disaster happens with significant amount of news coverage the large nonprofits crank-up the machine to raise as much money as they can during the crisis and High Media attention strategic interviews arranged by public relations teams.
Non-profit certification organization work with the largest nonprofits
In the United States for donation to be tax deductible must provide funds to a internal revenue Service 501c3 organization for tax exempt status purposes. It sometimes takes 6 months or more to get tax exemption letter from the internal revenue Service (IRS) some are never approved.
The solution
Strategically support grassroots Mission focus non-profit organizations directly.
In-kind Contributions
It makes no sense for a non-profit organization to raise money and then purchase access they need to fulfill their mission. It’s it’s likely to be better that philanthropist purchase the assets needed and making available to mission focus nonprofit.
Public relations stunts
Sometimes the party involved I’m motivated by public relation stunts.
Financing structure
Philanthropist funding source financing structure like venture capitalists in a for-profit funding transactions for startup.
Subordinate debenture
Loaning cash assets to nonprofit
Assets purchase have security interests lean in behalf of the philanthropist or foundation
Efficient Mission focusing
Philanthropy
Direct involvement of people and assets is better.
Philanthropist
Self-made philanthropists are best because they know how to build an organization for success.
Definition of philanthropist:
Be a philanthropist
Make a better world
Mission statement and agenda
Disclaimer
Information related to donation does not mean it will happen.
Forward-looking statements
The forward-looking statements do not represent actual events or future events.
Open source
More information is non proprietary and open source can be used by anyone at any time.
Back information:
Elon Musk Says It’s ‘Very Hard to Give Away Money Effectively’
Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, but he says it’s still hard to give away money to do good.
“When it comes to donations, I’d say it is very difficult to give away money effectively,” Musk said in a recent conversation with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider’s parent company, Axel Springer.
When asked about the goals of his foundation, Musk said he cares more about the outcomes, not optics, of philanthropy. This, he says, makes it harder for him to give away money “effectively.”
“If you care about the reality of doing good and not the perception of doing good, then it is very hard to give away money effectively,” he said. “I care about reality. Perception be damned
“I do want to emphasize that SpaceX and Tesla fundamentally intend to improve the quality of the future,” he said. “Especially in terms of usefulness to humanity. Tesla by accelerating sustainable energy. And SpaceX by making multiplanetary intercourse possible. This is more than I can do myself.”
Musk is one of the richest people in human history, with a net worth of roughly $260 billion. When asked how he felt about this, Musk said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is “significantly richer than me.”
In response to criticism surrounding his perceived lack of philanthropy, Musk argued that all his existing ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, are philanthropic because they exist to “do good for the future of humanity.”
Tesla aims to “accelerate the advent of sustainable transport and energy” and Space X is “providing internet to the least served people around the world.” The evidence of their “good” is fairly ample. Musk recently used SpaceX to support Ukraine by maintaining connectivity in some of the areas hardest hit by the war. But we must ask the question: Is this philanthropy?
Musk has a fraught relationship with giving. He recently argued that fellow billionaires employ philanthropy simply as a façade to curry public favor. In late November, he donated $5.7 billion “to charity” without disclosing any further details. It is not clear where his money has gone. But if this donation is legitimate, it would rank Musk as America’s second-biggest donor after Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates last year.
Many people are quick to criticize philanthropists–for giving too little, for giving to the wrong initiatives, or for giving for the mere sake of giving–but it’s difficult to give away money effectively. You cannot throw money at world problems and expect them to be instantly resolved.
Despite the backlash, Musk raises a good point: Money isn’t necessarily the answer. It’s how that money is used. He once said that “if you care about the reality of doing good and not the perception of doing good, then it is very hard to give away money effectively,” and I agree.
Philanthropy requires thoughtfulness. It requires a passion coupled with a strategic collaboration of expertise to ensure targeted and effective action.
I am tackling the largest disability in the world: poor vision. It cannot be solved through donation alone. It requires expertise, teamwork, risk, and it’s largely a matter of trial and error.
The criticism of Elon Musk fails to acknowledge that innovation is a core aspect of philanthropy. If we want to tackle the world’s largest issues, we need technologies and ideas to emerge that offer new solutions. Musk’s businesses may not look like acts of philanthropy, but their ground-breaking innovations could be just that.
Twitter offers another crucial opportunity for Musk to do “good for the future of humanity” by ensuring those who do not have a voice on the ground can find one online. The internet was designed to turn the world into a village, after all, and has done so successfully.
In the right hands, it could be used to build a global community. Thus far, Twitter’s algorithm has primarily amplified extreme rhetoric, turning the conversation into for-and-against debates that spark engagement. Misinformation and offensive sentiment are rife. This is exactly where Musk has the opportunity to do good by continuing to protect free speech while tweaking the algorithm to boost purposeful stories.
With his PayPal savvy, perhaps Elon Musk could incorporate a donations portal into the social media platform. He could make giving a core way people engage via Twitter and thus democratize philanthropy on a global scale.
Elon Musk certainly resembles a philanthropist in many ways: He is opinionated, smart, and forward-thinking. He yields great wealth, but his superpower is his influence. I hope he will use this influence to change one of the world’s most popular online platforms “for the good of future humanity.”
Twitter has rarely made the world a better place. Musk has rarely fully engaged with philanthropy. But if he is truly committed to doing good, Musk can flip the script.
James Chen is the founder of the Clearly campaign and chairman of the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation
Elon Musk says it’s ‘very hard to give away money effectively’ if you care more about the outcomes than the optics of philanthropy
Sarah Jackson Mar 26, 2022, 4:26 PM ET
Download the app
Elon Musk
Elon Musk on August 13, 2021 at a press event on the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin. Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images
Elon Musk says he’s not concerned getting recognition for donating money.
He says this makes philanthropy a challenge: “It is very hard to give away money effectively.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of roughly $260 billion Musk is the richest person in the world, but he says it’s still hard to give away money to do good.
“When it comes to donations, I’d say it is very difficult to give away money effectively,” Musk said in a recent conversation with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider’s parent company, Axel Springer.
When asked about the goals of his foundation, Musk said he cares more about the outcomes, not optics, of philanthropy. This, he says, makes it harder for him to give away money “effectively.”
“If you care about the reality of doing good and not the perception of doing good, then it is very hard to give away money effectively,” he said. “I care about reality. Perception be damned.”Despite what he described as a challenge to philanthropic efforts, Musk said, “I’m always looking for ways to give away money that are effective,” he continued.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO brought up a number of social causes during the conversation.
“There’s obviously environmental causes, there is education, especially science and engineering education,” he said. “Pediatric healthcare. Hunger these days is more of a political and logistics problem than it is not having enough food. There is a lot of food. In the US and many countries, the issue is more obesity than it is hunger.”
Musk also touched on the positive change he hopes SpaceX and Tesla will bring.
“It is very hard to donate money,” Musk said in a May 7 tweet.
The full quote, which appeared to be missing a couple of words, was, “It is very hard to donate money if you [care] about it doing actual good [and] not merely the appearance of it.”