The mood at Skoll was very much that philanthropy must step up to support organizations hit by the cuts. The philanthropic sector, despite its important contributions, can’t substitute for official development assistance. To illustrate, the annual spending of top foundations totals about $11 billion, a fraction of the $223 billion in ODA globally, or even the $65 billion provided by the U.S. alone.
Philanthropists upping their contributions include Jeff Skoll himself who is back at the forum after several years’ absence due to ill health to promise an additional $25 million after calling aid cuts “careless, callous and inhumane.”
John Palfrey, president of the MacArthur Foundation, said his organization would increase giving from 5% of its endowment to at least 6% — likely around $75 million a year of additional spending. And the Trevor Noah Foundation — founded by the South African comedian and talk show host who shot to fame on U.S. late night TV — announced plans to provide a new venture philanthropy fund for South African education nonprofits worth $1.75 million.
That was the mood in front of the microphones. But behind the scenes, there were some mutterings from social leaders that they were not seeing philanthropy respond as promptly or as effectively as they might like.