Changes to charity

You really cannot take it with you. Perhaps that is essentially what Warren Buffett and Bill Gates intend to try and remind their fellow-billionaires with their new campaign. Through persuasive dinners,letters,and leading by example,Americas richest men are trying to ask the 400 Americans on the billionaire list with them to give away at least 50 per cent of their wealth to charity. Their personal transition continues apace: the control-freaky software geek turning into the earnest policy wonk and expert on mosquito nets and African schools; the curmudgeonly master-investor turning into a crusty old giver but still examining,comparing,evaluating the best destinations for his own dollar.

That is,indeed,the extra twist that the Buffett-Gates generation has given to charity. Charity in America has become much more than wealthy peoples wives organising fundraising dinners,or families burnishing up the family name with a large donation here and there. The disposal and dispersal of large fortunes is now planned with as much careful meticulousness as was their accumulation. This came just after the revolution that Bill Clinton introduced after he left office pushing the non-profit sector towards the look and feel of professionalism,introducing bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young people from the private sector,and helping it work with instead of against government.

Europes elite has not yet transformed itself this way. Many believe this is because of their differing casts of mind: Americans believe they have earned their wealth,and trust few others to give it away,while Europeans embed their good fortune in their societys structure of support,and expect their governments to do good works for them. But Indias wealthy,of whom weve all heard so much? Their charitable contributions are minuscule in comparison,and nor do they expect their state to do it for them. Theres a troubling question here: what will it take for the Gates-Buffett-

Clinton consensus to percolate to Indias elite? Perhaps we need to look at what prevents nonprofits in this country from appearing like truly professionalised and worthy destinations for vast chunks of peoples fortunes.