With corporatization comes accountability

In June, Bill Gates announced his intent to relinquish day-to-day management of Microsoft, shifting his energies to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has already changed the face of philanthropy by merging charity with the rigor of business management.

The Gates Foundation has been lavishing its money primarily on research, prevention and treatment for AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and vaccine-preventable childhood diseases. The Gates Foundation has already had a huge impact on the charity landscape because of its mammoth resources.

The foundation is setting an example for mega foundations in seeking to do more than merely fund projects. It also seeks to alter the landscape of poverty and disease in developing countries. This reflects a growing view that health and welfare are directly linked to development and global security issues.

The future will likely see an intensification of its corporate-style, evidence-based approach to philanthropy. "There's that slogan -- the 'corporatization' of philanthropy," says Princeton economics professor Uwe Reinhardt. While some purists and academics have used the term disapprovingly, Prof. Reinhardt says it may be good. "It's an exceedingly efficient vehicle for getting things done," he says. "With corporatization comes accountability."

[Excerpt of article by Marilyn Chase, The Wall Street Journal]