A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies’ Charity Reform Initiative, titled “The Giving Pledge at 15,” analyzes the impact of The Giving Pledge since its inception in 2010. The pledge, co-founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, encourages billionaires to commit at least half their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetimes or after death.
According to the report, a total of 256 individuals, couples, or families have signed The Giving Pledge—194 from the United States and 62 from other countries. In its first year, 57 U.S. signers represented about 14% of all U.S. billionaires at that time.
“Now that the Giving Pledge itself is old enough for a driver’s permit, the public can draw clear conclusions from the overwhelming proof in our report about how the voluntary commitment has fallen short, and about the dubious charitable giving practices favored by some of its signatories,” said Bella DeVaan, associate director of the Charity Reform Initiative and co-editor of Inequality.org.
The report was also authored by Chuck Collins, director of IPS’s Program on Inequality and the Common Good; Helen Flannery, IPS associate fellow; and Dan Petegorsky, policy director for IPS’s Charity Reform Initiative. Their assessment states that The Giving Pledge is “unfulfilled, unfulfillable, and not our ticket to a fairer, better future.”
Over fifteen years since its launch, 32 original U.S. signers remain billionaires and have seen their combined wealth grow by 283%, now totaling $908 billion with an average net worth of $28 billion each. Since signing in 2010, these pledgers have given an estimated $206 billion to charity. Of this amount, roughly $164 billion (about 80%) has gone into private foundations rather than directly supporting operating charities. An additional estimated $5 billion has likely been contributed to donor-advised funds—a figure believed to be underreported due to limited disclosure requirements.
The report notes that only Laura and John Arnold among living original pledgers are estimated to have fulfilled their commitment so far by donating approximately $4.76 billion—primarily to their foundation—with $2.93 billion remaining in assets.
If all current billionaire signers from 2010 were to meet their pledged commitments today, they would contribute an extra estimated $367 billion toward charity—an amount close to what all individual donors gave nationwide in 2024.
Among deceased pledgers (22 total), only eight met or exceeded giving away half their fortunes as promised; one—Chuck Feeney—donated his entire fortune before passing away.
Looking ahead as large generational transfers of wealth loom along with possible tax cuts for wealthy Americans, Chuck Collins warns that more philanthropic power may become concentrated within dynastic family foundations: “We are facing the peril of billionaire charity dynasties wielding tremendous private power…all subsidized by taxpayers.”
“If ultra-wealthy donors like the Giving Pledgers aren’t timely in fulfilling their promises to give away more of their wealth,” DeVaan said, “we must enact measures to ensure more donations actually reach working charities, and discourage other ultra-rich Americans from exploiting the philanthropic system to hoard wealth and over-exert influence on the taxpayer’s dime.”
The report recommends several reforms aimed at ensuring more charitable dollars support active organizations rather than being stockpiled in foundations or donor-advised funds. A major survey conducted last year by Inequality.org together with The Giving Review found broad-based concern about philanthropy reform across ideological lines.
—
This article first appeared in The Giving Review on July 30, 2025.
