November 2011

1989Self-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.

1911Carnegie 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.

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.

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.

1923The 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.

1936The Wellcome Trust is established. Focused on funding biomedical research, the trust is the

UK's wealthiest charitable foundation

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.

1951Max 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.

1960-70sLarge-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.

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

1969The 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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

1986

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.

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.

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.

2000

The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa is established by the CarnegieCorporation and the Ford, MacArthur and Rockefeller foundations. The mission of thepartnership is to improve the educational capacity of African universities. Support forthe partnership is renewed in 2005 with an additional $200m grant; new chartermembers include the Hewlett, Mellon and Kresge foundations.

2005The 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.

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.

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.

2010Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet establish the Giving Pledge, which encourageswealthy individuals to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.

The first Pan-African Grant Makers Assembly is held in Nairobi, Kenya, funded andorganised primarily by African foundations such as TrustAfrica, the Kenya CommunityDevelopment Foundation, Akiba Uhaki, the African Women's Development Fund and theUrgent Action Fund. It receives additional support from the Rockefeller Foundation.

The AGN is seen as a major move towards institutionalising African philanthropy bycreating a platform for setting standards and promoting good practice.

2011

Vincent Tan, who founded theconglomerate Berjaya Group, follows theGiving Pledge by giving away half hiswealth an estimated $1.25bn. Most of itwill go to his Better Malaysia Foundation.

Private charitable giving in India soars.According to the India PhilanthropyReport, total private giving in India todayis between 0.3% and 0.4% of GDP($5bn-$6bn), making India one of theleaders in charitable giving amongdeveloping and emerging economies.The most popular activities includeeducation, food, clothing and shelter.