Milestones in Modern Philanthropy.

1. November 2011

2. 1989
Self-made Scottish-American industrialist
Andrew Carnegie publishes his essay The
Gospel of Wealth, often seen as a cornerstone
of modern philanthropy. He argues it is
disgraceful to die rich, and advocates donating
to social causes before death.
1911
Carnegie establishes the Carnegie
Corporation, with a remit to 'promote the
advancement and diffusion of knowledge and
understanding'. It is now one of the world's
oldest, largest and most influential foundations.

3. 1913
Inspired by Carnegie's The Gospel of Wealth,
American oil magnate John D Rockefeller
founds the Rockefeller Foundation. The
foundation initially focuses on medical
research, its first grant going to the American
Red Cross. It goes on to play an instrumental
role in developing vaccines for hookworm and
yellow fever, and to date has given more than
$14 billion to projects tackling wellbeing around
the world, expanding into areas such as
climate change and sustainable economic
growth.

4. 1919
The Sir Ratan Tata Trust is established. The
eponymous Ratan is the son of Jamsetji
Tata, founder of the Tata empire, which
started as a family cotton trading business
before expanding into different industries to
become a multinational conglomerate. The
Sir Ratan Tata Trust is one of the oldest
philanthropic institutions in India. It focuses
largely on making individual grants for
education and medical relief, but has also
made institutional grants in areas including
education, health, the arts, women’s
empowerment and rural development.

5. 1923
The Turkish state is built on the work of foundations, which have been providers of social
services in Turkey since the days of the Ottoman empire. Most of Turkey's leading museums,
hospitals and universities remain foundation investments. Since the establishment of the
Turkish Republic, foundations have also actively lobbied for social change and contributed to
the building of public institutions.
1936
The Wellcome Trust is established. Focused on funding biomedical research, the trust is the
UK's wealthiest charitable foundation

6. 1941
The Rockefeller Foundation sows the seeds of the controversial green revolution, providing
technical support and supplies for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
(CIMMYT) in Mexico. The CIMMYT works on new disease-resistant strains of maize, beans
and wheat.
1944
Hotel magnate Conrad Hilton sets up the Hilton Foundation, one of the few medium-sized
foundations with a strong emphasis on international development.
Priority areas now include the provision of safe water and care for children affected by
AIDS.

7. 1951
Max Thieler receives a Nobel prize for his Rockefeller-
funded work on a yellow fever vaccine. The strain
developed by Thieler is still the current source of
vaccines against the disease.
1960-70s
Large-scale social movements spark the emergence of
social justice philanthropy, pushing for increased
community participation in public policy decisions. They
spur a conscious shift away from simply providing
material goods and towards direct engagement with local
communities to plan activities and chart long-term
solutions.

8. 1967
The Aga Khan Foundation is set up by
the leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili
Muslims. The foundation focuses on
health, education, culture, rural
development, institution-building and the
promotion of economic development. It
operates in 30 countries across the
world and in 2010 had an annual budget
of $625m

9. 1969
The Mitsubishi Foundation is established in Japan, modeled on US foundations and set
up in part as a response to growing social pressure to address the health and
environmental problems associated with rising industrial emissions.
The Foundation de France is established by the French government after research and
consultation with philanthropic organizations in the US. It raises money directly from the
public and makes donations to non-profit activities in the public interest, serving as a
catalyst between government and private philanthropy. While the main focus of its work is
domestic, the foundation also supports some NGOs in developing countries.

10. 1970
Scientist Norman Borlaug wins the Nobel
peace prize for his Rockefeller-funded work
developing hybrid wheat.
1976
Howard Hughes dies, leaving his fortune to the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the second
wealthiest charitable foundation in the US today.

11. 1979
The Open Society Foundation is founded
by the Hungarian-born financier George
Soros, initially to fund scholarships for
black students at the University of Cape
Town and dissidents in eastern Europe.
The Open Society Foundation and the
Soros Foundation are now the largest of
their kind working on international
democratic development, and have a
presence in more than 30 countries.

12. 1980-90s
Chinese philanthropy has changed significantly in recent years. Many of the newer
social organizations established between the late 80s and the mid-90s were less
reliant on government funding and sustained themselves through a combination of
public, private and international funds. This includes foundations such as the China
Population Welfare Foundation and the China Youth Development Foundation. Since
2000, there has been a trend towards private individual philanthropy and the
establishment of corporate foundations such as the Heren Charitable Foundation,
which is named after the father of the Chinese businessman Cao Dewang (Fuyao
Glass Industry Group).

13. 1986
The World Food Prize is set up by Nobel prize-winning agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug.
The prize recognises innovation in agriculture development and is endowed by businessman
and philanthropist John Ruan lll.
Dr Walter Plowright, right, a British scientist who developed
a vaccine against rinderpest, one of the deadliest animal
diseases, receives the 1999 World Food Prize from prize
chairman John Ruan, centre, and vice-chairman John Ruan II,
in Iowa.

14. 1990s
Venture philanthropy focusing on the
application of venture capital investment
strategies and an emphasis on outcome
evaluation emerges as a new trend among
foundations. Examples include the Acumen
Fund, which started with support from the
Rockefeller and Cisco foundations.
Philanthropic institutions continue to grow
in many parts of the Asia-Pacific region,
despite the economic downturn and
financial crisis. Most private giving is to
religious institutions. The growing role of
the media in mobilizing people to donate in
the aftermath of natural disasters also
increases the role of (individual)
philanthropy.

15. 1993
The Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development (BFSD) an initiative of the Rockefeller
Foundation and the Fondazione San Paolo di Torino is established as an international
network of foundations, NGOs, media institutions and corporations. The foundation aims
to foster co-operation between the private sector, civil society and government to promote
sustainable development.

16. 1994
The William H Gates Foundation
launches, with an initial endowment of
$94m and a focus on global health and
community development in the north-
west US. In 2000, with an initial infusion
of $16bn, the foundation merges with the
separate Gates Learning Foundation to
become the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. Main priorities include global
health, education and libraries. Bill and
Melinda Gates play with young patients
during a malaria vaccine trial in
Mozambique.

17. 2000
The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa is established by the Carnegie
Corporation and the Ford, MacArthur and Rockefeller foundations. The mission of the
partnership is to improve the educational capacity of African universities. Support for
the partnership is renewed in 2005 with an additional $200m grant; new charter
members include the Hewlett, Mellon and Kresge foundations.
2005
The Emirates Foundation is set up by the the emirate of Abu Dhabi to 'facilitate new
public-private funded initiatives to improve the welfare of all people across the UAE'.
It is an example of the increasing trend towards 'public-private partnership
foundations' in Arab countries.

18. 2007
The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropy is founded with the aim of bringing
donors together and building a knowledge base on Muslim philanthropy.
The CAF Centre for Asian Philanthropy is set up in Singapore by the UK's Charities
Aid Foundation. The centre works with multinationals and wealthy individuals to
bridge the gap between private wealth and the region's development challenges.
2008
US foundations increasingly focus on the impacts of climate change. The number of
climate change-related grants double between 2000 and 2008. The largest (worth
$550m) is made by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

19. 2009
A $630m foundation-funded polio
eradication initiative is launched with
support from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, Rotary International and the
British and German governments.
Philanthropy in the Gulf Co-operation
Council states amounts to $15-20bn
annually.

20. 2010
Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet establish the Giving Pledge, which encourages
wealthy individuals to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.
The first Pan-African Grant Makers Assembly is held in Nairobi, Kenya, funded and
organised primarily by African foundations such as TrustAfrica, the Kenya Community
Development Foundation, Akiba Uhaki, the African Women's Development Fund and the
Urgent Action Fund. It receives additional support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The AGN is seen as a major move towards institutionalising African philanthropy by
creating a platform for setting standards and promoting good practice.

21. 2011
Vincent Tan, who founded the
conglomerate Berjaya Group, follows the
Giving Pledge by giving away half his
wealth an estimated $1.25bn. Most of it
will go to his Better Malaysia Foundation.
Private charitable giving in India soars.
According to the India Philanthropy
Report, total private giving in India today
is between 0.3% and 0.4% of GDP
($5bn-$6bn), making India one of the
leaders in charitable giving among
developing and emerging economies.
The most popular activities include
education, food, clothing and shelter.