Frequently asked questions

The Giving Pledge is a promise by the world’s wealthiest philanthropists to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetime or wills.

Today, building on that promise, the Giving Pledge has grown into a global community that actively connects to each other and to changemakers across critical sectors—learning and engaging deeply to support progress on the most urgent issues around the world.

The Giving Pledge is inspired by the example set by millions of people who give generously, and often at great personal sacrifice, to make the world a better place.

The Giving Pledge was founded by Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates, and Bill Gates in 2010 to unlock resources to address the world’s most urgent issues. They had seen first-hand how philanthropy could save and improve people’s lives, and they believed more giving would improve more lives.

The original aim of the Giving Pledge was to encourage people to embrace philanthropy sooner, inspire one another, and learn how best to give. The idea was simple, yet bold: if people started thinking and learning about philanthropy earlier in their lives, it would motivate them to give more and start sooner.

More than fifteen years since its founding, the Giving Pledge has helped create new norms of generosity and evolved into a connected, forward-thinking, and active global learning community.

Philanthropists join the Giving Pledge by making a public promise to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetime or in their wills.  Many write letters to explain their reasons for joining and to describe what they hope to achieve.

By design, the Pledge can be fulfilled during one’s lifetime or will, allowing signatories to decide when and how they fulfill their Pledges—whether while they’re living, like Chuck Feeney, or through their estates, like Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen.

Pledgers pursue their philanthropy independently but often come together to learn and embark on collaborative giving efforts.

The Giving Pledge is not an oversight organization, nor is it a pooled fund. The Giving Pledge does not distribute funds, grants, or donations in any form.

The Pledge offers space for philanthropists to connect with one another and with changemakers on the front lines of the world’s most urgent issues to share ideas, learn, and overcome barriers to giving.

Being part of the community means Pledgers don’t need to go it alone. It means finding trusted peers and issue experts to learn with and from. The Pledge provides opportunities for signatories, their families, and their staff to connect with others who share similar opportunities and challenges in their giving—and shines a light on individual and shared paths forward.

Many Pledgers indicate that being part of the community has helped ground their giving in what an honor and opportunity it is to engage in such meaningful and often humbling work.

To support the Pledge community in achieving their philanthropic goals, the Giving Pledge team provides resources and information about philanthropy and supports opportunities for virtual and in-person knowledge sharing.

The Giving Pledge team hosts an annual gathering for signatories in addition to smaller gatherings and learning sessions throughout the year, including for family and staff who are engaged in philanthropy. The sessions cover a wide range of issue areas and expose the Giving Pledge community to new models and approaches, often sparking collaboration and accelerating their giving. To learn more, visit the learning and impact page.

The Giving Pledge started with 40 signatories in the United States in 2010. As of November 2025, there are more than 250 Pledgers from 30 countries:

• Australia, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong), Colombia, Cyprus, France, Germany,
India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab
Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• In the United States, they are from 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Yes; view the full list here.

Giving Pledge signatories support a wide array of issues in every corner of the globe—what unites them is a shared promise and a commitment to creating an impact.

Signatories fulfill their Pledge at different times and in a variety of ways: through traditional charities, foundations, and non-profits, including their own foundations or philanthropic vehicles; through donor-advised funds (DAFs); through collaborative philanthropy or co-funding, or through other charitable vehicles.

The Giving Pledge does not solicit support for any specific philanthropic foundation, cause, or organization.

The Pledge encourages signatories to support issues that inspire them personally and benefit society. Giving Pledge signatories are focused on a wide array of causes, from medical research to poverty alleviation, disaster relief, climate change and arts and culture. Some signatories focus on their local communities, while others focus on national or global issues. They pursue their philanthropy independently and often come together to learn or embark on collaborative giving efforts.

Pledgers have given generously and with great impact since the Pledge was created in 2010—but no one believes the job is done.
 
Four of the 5 most generous American philanthropists of 2024 are signatories of the Giving Pledge (source: Chronicle of Philanthropy).

The community includes philanthropists who have set a remarkable example by giving away nearly all their wealth. Just to name a few: Chuck Feeney donated (often anonymously) over $8 billion—his entire wealth—during his lifetime. Likewise, Lorry Lokey is another inspiring example of a Pledger who gave away nearly all his wealth—over 90%—during his lifetime.

Many other Pledgers have met or are well on their way to meeting their Pledge. They’re giving at scale and with enormous impact—MacKenzie Scott, Lynn Schusterman, Azim Premji, Andrew and Nicola Forrest, Barron Hilton, David Rockefeller, T. Boone Pickens, Arthur Blank, Sandy and Joan Weill, and many others.

Only charitable giving counts toward fulfilling the Giving Pledge. Donations to political parties and candidates do not count as charitable giving and so fall outside the scope of the Pledge.

The Giving Pledge is a separate but affiliated community operationally hosted by the Gates Foundation. The Giving Pledge team helps Pledgers achieve their philanthropic goals and offers individualized support for signatories, as well as their families and staff. In addition, the team hosts opportunities for the community to gather and learn from experts and from one another about ways to give with impact.

A few examples of the type of support the team provides include connections to issue experts and philanthropic advisors; learning events, from small group cohorts to full-day sessions or multi-day trips; resources for giving with family; resources for staff; and guidance on specific giving opportunities.

The Giving Pledge Next Generation (Next Gen) group is a community of children and grandchildren of Pledgers who are actively engaged—or who want to become more actively engaged—in philanthropy.

The goal of the Next Gen group is to enable participants to achieve the impact they hope to see in the world—either through their own philanthropy or by supporting their family’s philanthropic endeavors. The group provides resources, tools, and a trusted network of peers to deepen the knowledge and connections among this next generation of philanthropists.

The Giving Pledge Next Gen group was created in 2014 in response to interest from several children and grandchildren of Pledgers who were engaged in their family’s giving and wanted a space to connect. They wanted to share ideas and learn from each other and global experts how to make a real difference in the world, while acknowledging the unique families and roles into which they were born.

The Giving Pledge Next Gen group has more than 300 active members around the world, ranging in age from 18 to 75. The passions and philanthropic ambitions of the Next Gen group are as varied as the Giving Pledge community as a whole.

To protect the privacy of members of the Next Gen group—who, unlike their parents or grandparents, did not choose to publicly sign onto the Giving Pledge—the Giving Pledge does not disclose their identities. However, members of the Next Gen group are free to discuss their participation and the learnings they have gleaned from the group if they choose.

The Giving Pledge is open to those with a net worth of at least one billion dollars (or who would be billionaires if not for their giving). If you meet this criteria and you are ready to make a public pledge to donate the majority of your personal wealth to philanthropy, please contact us and let us know you are interested in joining the Giving Pledge community.

The Giving Pledge is focused on billionaires (those with a net worth of U.S. $1 billion or more), or those who would be billionaires if not for their giving. The Giving Pledge focuses on billionaires because they have the greatest potential to give back to society if they dedicate the majority of their wealth to charity.

The Giving Pledge does not solicit donations or request any type of administrative or handling charges.

There have previously been email scams claiming to be from or associated with the Giving Pledge. These may include names of individual signatories or information taken directly from the official Giving Pledge website. The Giving Pledge makes every effort to stop such scams but cannot stop them all. If you receive an email or other communication that seems fraudulent and appears to be from the Giving Pledge, or in the name of individual signatories, for any type of payment, or if you receive an email or other communication seemingly from the Giving Pledge or individual signatories that you feel is suspicious, please contact us. Please note: due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we cannot respond to every request.