A report on the Giving Pledge: Wealth is growing faster than it’s given away

A report released today by the Institute for Policy Studies’ (IPS’s) Charity Reform Initiative, The Giving Pledge at 15, examines how the pledge has influenced philanthropy since its original announcement on August 4, 2010. Co-founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, The Giving Pledge is a high-profile effort meant to increase giving by America’s billionaires. Pledge signers promise to give at least half of their wealth to charity, either while living or upon their death.

To date, 256 individuals, couples, or families have signed The Giving Pledge. This includes 194 signers from the U.S. and 62 signers from other countries. Fifty-seven U.S. individuals, couples, or families signed the Pledge in its founding year of 2010. At the time, they made up about 14% of the 404 recorded U.S. billionaires.

“Now that the Giving Pledge itself is old enough for a driver’s permit, the public can draw clear conclusions from the overwhelming proof in our report about how the voluntary commitment has fallen short, and about the dubious charitable giving practices favored by some of its signatories,” according to report co-author Bella DeVaan, associate director of the Charity Reform Initiative and co-editor of Inequality.org.

The report’s other co-authors are Chuck Collins, director of the left-of-center IPS’s Program on Inequality and the Common Good and Inequality.org co-editor; IPS associate fellow Helen Flannery; and Dan Petegorsky, policy director of IPS’s Charity Reform Initiative.

In the report, they conclude that The Giving Pledge is “unfulfilled, unfulfillable, and not our ticket to a fairer, better future.”

Some specifics from 15 past years

Specifically, according to The Giving Pledge at 15, 32 of the original U.S. Giving Pledgers are still billionaires, and they have collectively gotten 283% wealthier since they signed. Those who still have more than a billion dollars are worth a combined $908 billion, for an average of $28 billion.

The original 2010 Pledgers have given an estimated $206+ billion to charity to date, according to the report. Approximately $164 billion, or 80%, of that amount has gone to private foundations. Another estimated $5 billion likely went to donor-advised funds, though this is almost certainly an undercount due to gaps in required reporting.

According to the report’s estimates, only one set of living 2010 Pledgers has technically fulfilled their commitment: Laura and John Arnold. The Arnolds have given away an estimated $4.76 billion, mostly to their foundation, and have $2.93 billion remaining.

If all of the living 2010 Pledgers who are still billionaires were to fulfill their pledges today, they would direct an estimated additional $367 billion to charity. This would be just shy of the estimated $392 billion given by all individuals in the U.S. in 2024.

Only 8 of the 22 deceased Pledgers fulfilled their pledges, giving away 50% or more of their wealth while they were living or through their estates. These 22, including 14 of the original 2010 signers, were worth a combined $43.4 billion when they died. Only one of the 22 deceased Pledgers—Chuck Feeney—gave away the entire fortune on which the pledge was based, in this case $8 billion, before death.

Looking forward

Based on existing patterns, Collins warns, as we’re on the cusp of what’s often called

the Great Wealth Transfer to the next generation and a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, our nation is about to see even more growth and concentration of philanthropic power in dynastic foundations. We are facing the peril of billionaire charity dynasties wielding tremendous private power, the likes of which we’ve never seen—all subsidized by taxpayers.

“If ultra-wealthy donors like the Giving Pledgers aren’t timely in fulfilling their promises to give away more of their wealth,” DeVaan said, “we must enact measures to ensure more donations actually reach working charities, and discourage other ultra-rich Americans from exploiting the philanthropic system to hoard wealth and over-exert influence on the taxpayer’s dime.”

The report lists several reform measures that could ensure more money ends up in the hands of actual charities. A major survey conducted by Inequality.org last year in cooperation with The Giving Review found that concern about and a willingness to reform philanthropy is cross-ideological.

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This article first appeared in the Giving Review on July 30, 2025.

Source: https://capitalresearch.org/article/a-report-on-the-giving-pledge-wealth-is-growing-faster-than-its-given-away/