Philanthropy Smackdown
From Slate Magazine, the tongue-in-cheek "Philanthropy Smackdown: Google vs. Gates for the World Charity Championship":
Google.org has accomplished in one week what it took its parent company years to accomplish: It has already stolen market share from Bill Gates. As the New York Times reported last week, Google will commit $1 billion to a for-profit philanthropic operation that will do everything from back startup companies to lobby legislatures. Among its first projects: helping to build a superefficient ethanol-gasoline-electric car engine.Trendy and utopian? Absolutely... Google, which has managed to make Microsoft look old and stodgy as a business, is now trying to make the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation look stodgy as a philanthropy.
Philanthropy has been thrust into the business consciousness, creating competition among companies and individuals to see who can be the most generous, the most innovative, the most "giving". This is a good trend that will grow the sector and increase the size of the philanthropic ecosystem. But philanthropy can't be a flavor of the month - it needs to become deeply instilled with young children, who can be taught that they have the ability to make a difference and create positive change in the world. Hey Sergey and Larry: use your new initiative to not only fund immediately beneficial opportunities now, but also sow the seeds of philanthropy for generations to come.