When news broke about Warren Buffett donating billions to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, I sent a tongue-in-cheek email to the Foundation:
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:21:25 -0400
From: Mark Turner
To: info at gatesfoundation dot org
Subject: what about donating?Savvy investors often follow Warren Buffett’s moves. How may *I* donate
to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?Regards,
Mark
To my surprise, I actually got a response:
Subject: RE: what about donating?
Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 13:43:24 -0700
From: “Info”
To: “Mark Turner”Dear Mark,
Thank you for writing to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
I appreciate your generous offer of a financial contribution to support
the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. However, the foundation
is not set up to receive financial contributions from the general
public. There are many strong non-profit organizations that are in a
better position to receive this type of contribution and who do work
that is consistent with the goals of this foundation. I invite you to
visit our Web site at www.gatesfoundation.org for information
about some of our grantees.Thanks again for your interest and your kind offer. We wish you all the
best.Sincerely,
Stephanie Jones
Grants Inquiry Administrator
Very nice of them to respond to my ridiculous request.
(Note: Should you be willing to actually donate, here’s a partial list of grantees the Gates Foundation supports).