How the New Philanthropy Works

Bill Clinton

In our increasingly interdependent world, we have seen the terrifying power of individuals to do great harm. Yet there is a more hopeful side of this interconnected age: private citizens have never had more power to advance the common good and secure a brighter future.

Three developments have dramatically increased the potential of individuals to be agents of change: for the first time more than half the people in the world live under democracies; the spread of information technology has empowered individuals to pool their resources and make common cause at a speed and on a scale previously unprecedented; and, finally, nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, have grown and become important agents of assistance. During the responses to Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Southeast Asia, citizen power was on full display, as the Internet provided a conduit through which enormous sums of money flowed from millions of people of modest means.

I created the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to accelerate that kind of activity and to offer a new model for philanthropy in the 21st century. For three days in September, CGI brings together some of the world's best minds and problem solvers. It functions like a marketplace for global change, where those with the passion to make a difference--and others with the means to finance them--come together. Each attendee is asked to make a pledge of resources, time or leadership.

At this year's meeting, Richard Branson grabbed headlines by pledging to invest all future proceeds of his Virgin Group's airline and train businesses to fight global warming. But other commitments with smaller budgets were similarly designed to have a real impact. The Global Partnership for Afghanistan pledged to launch 100 commercially viable orchard and woodlot businesses. The Sanam Vaziri Quraishi Foundation partnered with child-rights activist Craig Kielburger to "adopt a village" in the Masai Mara of Kenya. With an investment of only $68,000 in the first year, they will help change the lives of 1,000 children and adults.

CGI is still in its infancy, but in two years, hundreds of commitments have been made, totaling almost $10 billion. That is a testament to the concern and generosity of the leaders and activists from around the globe who have attended CGI. But I believe it also reflects a growing realization that in today's world we all have a responsibility to influence change. The future our children inherit depends on whether or not we will act accordingly.

Laura Bush and Jean Case

Consider the scene in Boikarabelo, South Africa. It's 10 o'clock in the morning in this village outside Johannesburg, home to some 300 children, many of whom have lost their parents to AIDS. Time for recess is approaching. After hours of morning instruction, the children are ready to burst forth into the schoolyard--eager to run, jump and take a spin on the merry-go-round.

Yet there is more going on here than meets the eye--and the American people play a key role in the story. The merry-go-round is not just a simple piece of playground equipment. It's a PlayPump water system. Lack of access to clean water is one of Africa's biggest health challenges. Through technology developed by an African entrepreneur, the children are pumping clean water for their village when they turn the merry-go-round.