And with $7 trillion in assets held by the wealthiest 1,000 people in the world, the potential for global

impact is huge.

It's the equivalent of Google's commitment to autonomous cars, Wikipedia's mission of organizing the

world's knowledge, or Elon Musk's commitment to taking humans to Mars.

With immense respect to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, I'd like to suggest an alternative to the giving pledge…

an "impact pledge."

Specifically, a pledge where philanthropists actually pledge to solve (i.e. eradicate, eliminate, exterminate) a

specific problem, rather than just agree to give their money to philanthropy.

What if today's billionaires actually "call their shots" and commit to fixing something big?

And with $7 trillion in assets held by the wealthiest 1,000 people in the world, the potential for global

impact is huge.

This blog was inspired by two different news blurbs last week.

[ Click to Tweet about this (you can edit before sending): http://ctt.ec/KWYB9 ]

First, news that Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talalannounced his decision to donate his

entire $32 billion fortune to philanthropy.

Second, Sean Parker's formation of the $600 million Parker Foundation and his article in the Wall Street

Journal titled Philanthropy for Hackers – Today's young Internet barons should use the talents that made

them rich to transform the world of giving.

What is the Giving Pledge?

The Giving Pledge invites the world's wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half of

their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes during their lifetime or in their will. So far, more than 137 of the

world's wealthiest have signed the pledge.

The issue, as Sean Parker points out in his excellent WSJ article, is the following: "…$300 billion a year is

given to private foundations and public charities, which offer little in the way of transparency or accountability."

He continues, "So while philanthropists like to talk about impact, they seldom have the tools to measure it. This

has led to a world in which the primary currency of exchange is recognition and reputation, not effectiveness.

These incentives lead most philanthropists to favor "safe" gifts to well-established institutions, resulting in a

never-ending competition to name buildings at major universities, medical centers, performing arts centers and

other such public places."

An Alternative: Calling Your Shot

What happens instead, when a philanthropist commits their capital, resources and prowess to solving a specific

problem? For example: "I'm going to wipe out hunger in my country… or child marriages… or expand access to

clean water."

The mere verbalization of a specific moonshot, or publically calling your shot, changes everything. It inspires

accountability, it focuses your team's efforts, and it attracts the best minds on the planet to help you on a

massively transformative purpose.

It's the equivalent of Google's commitment to autonomous cars, Wikipedia's mission of organizing the

world's knowledge, or Elon Musk's commitment to taking humans to Mars.

And speaking of, this is exactly what Bill Gates is doing with malaria, polio, and other diseases through his

groundbreaking work at the Gates Foundation.

So, How Do You Actually Create an Impact?

I'm continually amazed at the lack of leverage used by most foundations and philanthropists.

During the success phase (or "making money phase") of one's life, people demand tremendous leverage on

their working capital.

Invest $1; you shoot for 10x or 100x back (either in returns or value created).

But in the philanthropic phase, somehow that desire for leverage is forgotten, and an impact of 30 cents on the

dollar, after overhead, is acceptable.

Leverage and scale need to remain paramount.

So for the philanthropist, billionaire or foundation reading this blog, here are my two recommendations on how

to create leverage, change the world and create an impact.

Entrepreneurs (aka Hackers): As I teach the entrepreneurs at Singularity University who are interested in

solving billion-person problems, the world's biggest problems are the world's biggest business opportunities,

and if you want to become a billionaire, help a billion people.

So the first piece of advice is for you to invest.

Invest in entrepreneurs who passionately desire to solve billion-person problems.

Call it what you wish, double-bottom-line or triple-bottom-line investing, but as Sean Parker described about

today's young hackers, "…they are intensely idealistic, so as they begin to confront the world's most pressing

humanitarian problems, they are still young, naive and perhaps arrogant enough to believe that they can solve

them."

"In philanthropic work, hackers must constantly ask if they are leveraging their investments. Are they getting

out more than they are putting in? On a particular issue, do they have a comparative advantage? It's important

to treat philanthropy as a series of calculated risks: Not every contribution will yield success, some will end in

failure, and others, when they succeed, ought to generate exponential returns."

Parker continues, "In this model, being wrong is as valuable as being right. Nothing works all the time, and

hackers entering the world of philanthropy will be skeptical of any claims that cannot be invalidated."

And with $7 trillion in assets held by the wealthiest 1,000 people in the world, the potential for global

impact is huge.

It's the equivalent of Google's commitment to autonomous cars, Wikipedia's mission of organizing the

world's knowledge, or Elon Musk's commitment to taking humans to Mars.

With immense respect to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, I'd like to suggest an alternative to the giving pledge…

an "impact pledge."

Specifically, a pledge where philanthropists actually pledge to solve (i.e. eradicate, eliminate, exterminate) a

specific problem, rather than just agree to give their money to philanthropy.

What if today's billionaires actually "call their shots" and commit to fixing something big?

And with $7 trillion in assets held by the wealthiest 1,000 people in the world, the potential for global

impact is huge.

This blog was inspired by two different news blurbs last week.

[ Click to Tweet about this (you can edit before sending): http://ctt.ec/KWYB9 ]

First, news that Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talalannounced his decision to donate his

entire $32 billion fortune to philanthropy.

Second, Sean Parker's formation of the $600 million Parker Foundation and his article in the Wall Street

Journal titled Philanthropy for Hackers – Today's young Internet barons should use the talents that made

them rich to transform the world of giving.

What is the Giving Pledge?

The Giving Pledge invites the world's wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half of

their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes during their lifetime or in their will. So far, more than 137 of the

world's wealthiest have signed the pledge.

The issue, as Sean Parker points out in his excellent WSJ article, is the following: "…$300 billion a year is

given to private foundations and public charities, which offer little in the way of transparency or accountability."

He continues, "So while philanthropists like to talk about impact, they seldom have the tools to measure it. This

has led to a world in which the primary currency of exchange is recognition and reputation, not effectiveness.

These incentives lead most philanthropists to favor "safe" gifts to well-established institutions, resulting in a

never-ending competition to name buildings at major universities, medical centers, performing arts centers and

other such public places."

An Alternative: Calling Your Shot

What happens instead, when a philanthropist commits their capital, resources and prowess to solving a specific

problem? For example: "I'm going to wipe out hunger in my country… or child marriages… or expand access to

clean water."

The mere verbalization of a specific moonshot, or publically calling your shot, changes everything. It inspires

accountability, it focuses your team's efforts, and it attracts the best minds on the planet to help you on a

massively transformative purpose.

It's the equivalent of Google's commitment to autonomous cars, Wikipedia's mission of organizing the

world's knowledge, or Elon Musk's commitment to taking humans to Mars.

And speaking of, this is exactly what Bill Gates is doing with malaria, polio, and other diseases through his

groundbreaking work at the Gates Foundation.

So, How Do You Actually Create an Impact?

I'm continually amazed at the lack of leverage used by most foundations and philanthropists.

During the success phase (or "making money phase") of one's life, people demand tremendous leverage on

their working capital.

Invest $1; you shoot for 10x or 100x back (either in returns or value created).

But in the philanthropic phase, somehow that desire for leverage is forgotten, and an impact of 30 cents on the

dollar, after overhead, is acceptable.

Leverage and scale need to remain paramount.

So for the philanthropist, billionaire or foundation reading this blog, here are my two recommendations on how

to create leverage, change the world and create an impact.

Entrepreneurs (aka Hackers): As I teach the entrepreneurs at Singularity University who are interested in

solving billion-person problems, the world's biggest problems are the world's biggest business opportunities,

and if you want to become a billionaire, help a billion people.

So the first piece of advice is for you to invest.

Invest in entrepreneurs who passionately desire to solve billion-person problems.

Call it what you wish, double-bottom-line or triple-bottom-line investing, but as Sean Parker described about

today's young hackers, "…they are intensely idealistic, so as they begin to confront the world's most pressing

humanitarian problems, they are still young, naive and perhaps arrogant enough to believe that they can solve

them."

"In philanthropic work, hackers must constantly ask if they are leveraging their investments. Are they getting

out more than they are putting in? On a particular issue, do they have a comparative advantage? It's important

to treat philanthropy as a series of calculated risks: Not every contribution will yield success, some will end in

failure, and others, when they succeed, ought to generate exponential returns."

Parker continues, "In this model, being wrong is as valuable as being right. Nothing works all the time, and

hackers entering the world of philanthropy will be skeptical of any claims that cannot be invalidated."

HOW TO GIVE

Through the CFC, Federal employees can make charitable donations and pledge

volunteer hours to charities you care about. Join the thousands of Federal

employees and retirees who donate through payroll deduction and GIVE HAPPY

year-round. 

The CFC offers four ways to give:

1. Online Giving System: Click the Donate button at the top of the page to get

started.

2. Paper Pledge Form: Download a pledge form and get instructions on how to

fill it out and submit it.

3. Text-to-Donate

4. CFC Giving App

As a Federal employee, you can also pledge volunteer hours to charities that

accept them. Scroll down to learn more about each of these options.

Note: To make an anonymous donation, do not complete the optional "Information

Release" section.

WAYS TO GIVE

ONLINE

Important Note: OPM has recently upgraded its online giving system to incorporate

Login.gov as the primary method of authentication into the CFC system. Several agencies'

firewalls have been blocking the new domain. Please ensure the following URL is marked

"safe" (whitelisted, allow listed) at your agency to ensure everyone has access to the CFC's

Online Giving System: cfcgiving.tascfc.sso.com. 

1. Click DONATE in the header of this page.

2. Create an account or log in to your existing account.

3. Complete or update your profile. Be sure to enter your work ZIP code and

your CFC unit code. 

4. Search for charities you want to support.

5. Pledge by selecting your designated charities and allocating funds. Federal

employees can also pledge volunteer hours!

*Download these detailed instructions on how to use the new multifactor

authentication Login.gov. Or download the general How to Pledge Online

Instructions to learn more about using the Online Giving System.

CFC GIVING MOBILE APP

1. Download the App for Apple or Android devices by searching "CFC Giving" in

the app store.

2. Sign in or create an account. Returning donors should use the same login as

your CFC online pledge portal account. New donors should create an account,

verify it, and set up a profile. 

3. Search for charities. If you are attending an event, you can see the list of

charities participating in the event, or you can generate your own list of CFC

charities and their descriptions.

4. Give by tapping each charity you want to support and entering the dollar

amount. 

5. Complete your donation by updating or adding your funding source (payroll

allotment, bank account or credit/debit card). Federal employees can also

pledge volunteer hours!

Download the general CFC Giving Mobile App Instructions to learn more about

using the mobile app.

PAPER PLEDGE FORM

Prefer using pen and paper? You can still complete a paper pledge form.

Download the Federal employee, USPS, or retiree form and complete it using the

instructions. Submit it to your Keyworker or mail it directly to the CFC Processing

Center: CFC Processing Center, P.O. Box 7820 Madison, WI 53707-7820.

TEXT-TO-DONATE

Looking for a way to make an easy one-time donation using a credit card or PayPal?

Text "Donate" to 978-487-5678 to receive the link to the quick pledge page.

Complete three fields: email, ZIP Code, and dollar amount. Then, search for and

select your charity. Choose your payment: PayPal or Credit Card. Learn more about

the Text-to-Donate program.

VOLUNTEER HOURS 

CFC charities need your time and talent in addition to your monetary donations.

Which charities accept volunteer hours? Download this filterable

spreadsheet to see which charities accept volunteer pledges; where and what type

those opportunities are; and even which volunteer opportunities can be done

virtually. When searching for organizations using the online charity search, check

the "Volunteer Opportunities Available" box to search for organizations accepting

volunteers. If using the PDF Charity Listing, charities accepting volunteer hours will

have a hand-raised icon. 

 Pledge volunteer hours as an individual. Simply add the number of total

hours you would like to volunteer to your online or paper pledge.

 Pledge group volunteer hours. Select the "Submit Group Volunteer Pledge"

after you log in to your CFC Online Giving System account to pledge volunteer

time with your office/unit.

 Report volunteer hours fulfilled. Select the "Report My Volunteer Hours"

from the main menu once logged into the CFC Online Giving System.

 Fulfill your volunteer pledge. If you pledged volunteer hours during the 2022

campaign, please coordinate with your charity of choice for volunteer

opportunities in 2023.

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