Struggling To Give Away Billions

Dayo Olopade wonders if the Gates Foundation approach is effective:

The Gates method brings to philanthropy what the Powell Doctrine brought to war: overwhelming force. But the eye-popping figures on the foundation's balance sheets raise not just the question of how best to give away billions but whether such sums should be given away at this pace. Buffett's donation, for instance, requires that the foundation hand out at least $1.5 billion annually -- which is "harder than you think," former foundation CEO and current senior adviser Patty Stonesifer admitted to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2008.