Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the two richest people in the United States, are reaching out to our nation’s billionaires! What’s their aim?

These two super philanthropists are asking America’s billionaires to pledge to give at least half their net worth to charity either in their lifetimes or at death. Fortune Magazine calls this noble act the “biggest fundraising drive in history”. Gates and Buffett hope to convince enough billionaires to commit to this cause that the meaning of charitable giving and philanthropy is transformed and given a new breath of life. Just imagine how very far all that money could go!

Buffett and Gates, to no surprise, have already entrusted most of their money to charity. Buffett, in fact, has vowed to donate a staggering 99% of his wealth to charity, Fortune Magazine reports. He understands the vast reaches of philanthropy and just how many lives he can change for the better. After all, should it really be accepted that 1% of America’s population holds almost 43% of the nation’s financial wealth in their pockets? If all the people on Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans were to vow to donate at least half of their wealth, charities and nonprofit organizations could see well over half a trillion dollars! The potential success of Gates and Buffett’s challenge is truly remarkable, almost unimaginable.

However, this dynamic duo knows that persuading these billionaires to give so much will be no simple feat. Even some of our nation’s richest and most affluent have, to date, donated very little, or at least not enough to reach Buffett and Gate’s standards. Buffett realizes that every billionaire has thought about what to do with his or her money. He says, “They may not have reached a decision about that, but they have for sure thought about it. The pledge that we’re asking them to make will put them to thinking about the whole issue again” (Fortune Magazine). If some billionaires resolve to not commit to taking on the pledge, perhaps Gates and Buffett’s challenge will at least encourage them to think differently about philanthropy, charitable giving, and the causes worth fighting for.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s pledge begs the question:

What would you do? If you were a billionaire, would you answer the call and donate half your wealth to charity or would you prefer to allocate your own funds?

And where would you hope to see a pot of one half trillion dollars go?

Let us know what you think in the Comment section below!

[photos from flickr by World Economic Forum and aresauburn]