Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School

WHAT’S BETTER THAN A HANDOUT?

The recent surge in natural disasters all over the world serves as a sombre reminder to us of the fragile hold we have on the planet. The shortest tremor can cause untold damage. When it happens in a location like Haiti, hundreds of thousands can die and the lives of millions are affected.

The world will usually respond by sending rescue team, tents, food, clean water and medicine. Governments, companies, celebrities, everyday individuals, churches and school groups will jump in to assist with donations, fundraising events and all nature of spontaneous aid.

In the midst of this tremendous reaction, one of the biggest tasks is always the coordination of the resources and funding to make sure they get to the front lines in an effective and timely manner.

The challenges Haiti faced in the months following the horrendous earthquake there in early 2010 reminds us of the need for a strong combination of governments, corporations, non-governmental organisations and individuals working together. It is an effective and powerful mix, so long as it is controlled by informed people on the front lines. Something that sadly is not always the case!

While the world recession of the last several years has put a crimp in the funding many in the non-profit sector rely upon, it has also prompted the latest generation of philanthropists to look at ways of working together more effectively to ensure that the best initiatives do the most good on as large a scale as possible.

For example, Jeff Skoll, one of the founders of eBay, used his entrepreneurial skills to establish Participant, a new film company that focuses on combining entertainment with building awareness of major world issues. His films range from An Inconvenient Truth, the great documentary about climate change, and The Soloist, a beautiful film highlighting the issue of homelessness in the United States, to Countdown to Zero, a film about the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Individual fortunes larger than the gross domestic product of many countries have been created in the past twenty years. In response, we need a more benevolent form of capitalism, one that creates wealth and also then spends some of that wealth more responsibly. Business has a new sense of purpose: to prove that capitalism on its own is not enough. We must turn a profit while making the world a better place.

For some people this has involved creating large foundations to distribute wealth; for others, it has meant putting social responsibility and good business practices at the heart of their organisations.

Occasionally it has spelled the demise of the ‘golden charity cheque’ and the birth of new, aid-free, entrepreneurial approaches to giving. The debate continues about whether pure charity is better than giving that fosters economic growth – but the debate is futile. The world needs all the help it can get right now to tackle the scale of the environmental and social problems we are facing.

A few years ago we created the not-for-profit foundation Virgin Unite for our businesses and partners. It is quite simply about connecting people who can tackle tough challenges using entrepreneurial approaches. We want to be catalysts for new ways to deal with providing health care on a large scale, encouraging peace and diminishing factors that contribute to climate change.

As I mentioned earlier, we established the Elders, a group of wise men and women including Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan and Mary Robinson, to name a few, who work quietly behind the scenes, seeking to resolve global conflicts.

We are working to set up a Disease Control Hub in partnership with the South African government and health leaders to help eradicate suffering from preventable and treatable diseases.

Since we don’t pretend to have all the answers, we work with great partners and experts to make sure we are always informed by the people who are in the thick of the issues. Often, almost by default, these people at the sharp end may know the answers but have just not had the chance for their voices to be heard.

It is exciting to see different sectors of civic life forge new and even unlikely partnerships to tackle big challenges. Coupled with technology that truly interconnects the world, our initiatives can succeed on a larger scale than ever before. As globalisation increases the divide between the rich and the poor, we must harness technology and entrepreneurial skills to build a more prosperous and healthy world for everyone.

That requires us – with a great sense of humility and respect – to engage with partners and people on the front lines. We always get as much as we give. Solutions can come at a low cost if we keep this generation of philanthropists engaged and involved.