Dedicated to developing new models of giving

Dr Maximilian Martin, global head of philanthropy at Lombard Odier, has dedicated a great part of his professional life to help individuals and businesses to give.

- Timothy Rangongo

Global giving is growing, gaining visibility and creating much-needed change around the world, according to a global philanthropy report by the Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company, UBS Group AG. It states that over time and across geographies, the world has witnessed a near-universal charitable instinct to help others.

Wealthy individuals, families and corporations are indeed looking to give more. This has been witnessed in recent years with the formation of The Giving Pledge in 2010 by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates. It is a commitment by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to give back, at least half of their wealth. Those who have taken the pledge include Mark Zuckerberg and Dr Priscilla Chan, Elon Musk, Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Patrice and Dr Precious Motsepe.

The Covid-19 pandemic magnified South Africa’s pre-existing vulnerabilities and we were faced with an irreversible humanitarian and economic crisis that would permanently change the world as it were. Some of the country’s wealthiest families, the Ruperts, Oppenheimers and Motsepes, stepped up to the plate, pledging a billion rand each to assist with the pandemic and its related challenges and inequalities.

Giving is, however, transcending the one percent that one would vow that establishing a foundation is the “in” thing now. There is a growing number of philanthropists establishing foundations and other giving structures to focus, practice and amplify their social investments. The surge is, of course, very much welcomed as it is plainly evident that, alas, there is only so much that governments, especially in developing nations, can do.