Michael Seltzer has worked in the field of philanthropy and in the nonprofit sector since 1968, most recently as the president of the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers.

Warren Buffett entered the philanthropic stratosphere overnight in June when he declared his intention to contribute in excess of $30 billion to five foundations. His gifts represent the latest phase of his plan to give away 85 percent of his fortune.

MICHAEL SELTZER with Helen LaKelly Hunt of the Sister Fund. (Photograph by Stan Schnier.)

At the New York Public Library, the venue he chose for his announcement, Buffett noted that Bill Gates had given him a copy of Andrew Carnegie’s article, "Wealth," first published in North American Review in June 1889. In it, Carnegie noted that the rich are "intrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have done for itself." Buffett also referred to the World Development Report, an annual World Bank publication, which Gates had also given him. It was clear that both publications had directly influenced his thinking.

So, with one intellectual foot planted in the 19th century and another in the modern world, Buffett embarked on the path that has led others to create more than 68,000 foundations in the United States. American society today is certainly very different from the 19th century’s Gilded Age when Buffett’s philanthropic forebears—most prominently, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie—amassed their wealth. One clear difference is the extraordinary increase in the number and magnitude of great fortunes. A 2006 survey published by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch reports that there were 85,000 people with more than $30 million in assets last year. Close to 9 million individuals around the globe have liquid financial assets of more than $1 million. Taken together, their assets total $33 trillion. The scope of today’s wealth is unparalleled in human history.

Carnegie noted that the rich are "intrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have done for itself."

How many of these men and women of inherited and earned wealth will follow the lead of Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates? What driving forces will influence them?

Fellow Players
Peers past and present have certainly influenced Buffett’s strategy. During the New York Public Library announcement, he credited Carnegie, Rockefeller and New York philanthropist Irene Diamond (who died several years ago after spending down all of the assets of the Aaron Diamond Foundation on such initiatives as AIDS research and public education) for setting important examples. Buffett also acknowledged the influence of the work of his friends and fellow players, the Gates.

Vartan Gregorian, the president of the Carnegie Corp. of New York, noted: "Andrew Carnegie believed deeply that private wealth should be used to advance the public good. Warren Buffett’s extraordinary gift epitomizes that idea. It also highlights both the sense of responsibility that dedicated philanthropists feel toward their fellow men and women and the desire of some donors to see the effects of their legacy during their own lifetime."

The World of Ideas
In explaining the rationale behind his extensive largesse, George Soros is quick to reference philosopher Karl Popper, author of the 1945 book, Open Society and Its Enemies. Popper’s writings inspired Soros to both name his foundation the Open Society Institute and to make his faith in democracy and civil society a cornerstone of his giving.