Which gives more ‘bang for the buck’?

According to American billionaire William Gross, the public benefits from philanthropy are not commensurate with the tax breaks that givers receive. ‘I don’t think we’re getting the bang for the buck for gifts to build football stadiums and concert halls.’

Elsewhere, he added: ‘When millions of people are dying of AIDS and malaria in Africa, it is hard to justify the umpteenth society gala held for the benefit of a performing arts center or an art museum.’ According to an article in the New York Times, in which Gross’s remarks appeared, for every $3 philanthropists give away, the federal government typically gives up a dollar or more in tax revenue.

Fellow billionaire and philanthropist Eli Broad disagrees. ‘What smart, entrepreneurial philanthropists and their foundations do,’ he argues, ‘is get greater value for how they invest their money than if the government were doing it.’ In the US, roughly three-quarters of charitable gifts of $50 million and more from 2002 until 31 March this year went to universities, private foundations, hospitals and art museums, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Source
New York Times, 6 September 2007