Ted Turner Philanthropist

"Ted Turner passionately believes that the earth's future is in jeopardy. To help nations work together to care for the environment and reduce the threat from weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Turner has donated more than a billion dollars of his own money to found a number of nonprofit foundations. Following are brief descriptions of each organization...."

Comments

[Jon Husband]

This is an example of what I meant when once sharing and email with the Happy Tutor ... individuals with name recognition, high profiles, who were gonna try to rock the world into some kind of awareness that in the current system, unless someone steps up and does something outrageous, as has Mr. Turner, anything resembling a civil society will be a long-forgotten speck o' dust before we know it.

Good on him - that's what you might call a legacy.

[Gerry]

Debbie and I caught him on Charlie Rose's show the other night. We need more like him that know the system from the inside and have both resources and nothing to lose (or more to the point, nothing more valuable at this point in life except creating a legacy your children and their children can be proud of). Hope we here more from him.

[phil]

Yes, but.... Will the creator of CNN and owner of the Atlanta Braves be likely to question media hegemony, the society of the spectacle, and corporatization of civil society? I am in philanthropy, but my hopes are with blogging, open space, p2p, and the reinvention of the public square online. Think of the world: Turner, Osama, Bush, Heinz, Kerry, Gates. Wealth-holders all. Do we want our world, the part not run by corporations and store-bought government, to be what these very rich people contest, on our behalf, among themselves, for better or worse?

Rather than praising them, we should send in the clowns. They need Jesters far more than flunkies and a claque. To applaud Turner is good. He deserves praise, as did Princess Diana. As will Madonna if she starts a foundation. As does MacDonalds for Ronald MacDonald Houses, and for the Kroc bequest to Salvation Armey. But there is very little air in this closed room. We need windows and doors into spaces not controlled, owned, or under the leadership of wealthy patrons, on their boards interlocked with coporate boards, goverment commissions, media, and star power. All of this is part of one larger syndrome that must be pushed aside, put back in proper perspective, as we as citizens around the world take responsibility for our own futures. Bush drops landmines as fast as Turner cleans them up.

[Debbie]

Yes, but.... Will the creator of CNN and owner of the Atlanta Braves be likely to question media hegemony, the society of the spectacle, and corporatization of civil society?

Given how he was screwed over by Time-Warner, I think he very well might. Fella struck me as having a bit of comeuppance and still wiping the egg off his face. Yeah, he still has a billion and a half, but he lost seven or eight billion dollars and was treated shabbily. I'm not crying for him, mind you, but I do think that he's got an awareness that others in his position of wealth do not. I suspect, at 65, he's still got a ways to go, but I think that if he were engaged in some good conversation, ie, this website, he might just come 'round.

[Phil]

Refer him to the WB Private Client Group?

[Gerry]

Both/and, don't you think. We want as many perspectives as we can find in our movement, that is if we can get them to talk to us. It would be interesting to ask him about what he actually thinks about the Internet, blogging and such; likely, it isn't much a part of his world. But that is probably as much generational as anything else. The most heartening thing about it is to see the urge toward service and giving to the larger society.

It's sort of like the difference between a Carter post presidency and Reagan or even Clinton. We need more examples of this sort of public service. Good role models for the wealthy.

[Gerry]

I can think of many others who need it more than Ted. Perhaps he might want to train with the Tutor and try his hand at whipping his peer who are less evolved than him. Candidia probably wouldn't much like the competition, though.

[Harry]

For around $750, maybe a bit less, Ted could get someone going with a decent computer, all the software needed to get creative and share, and a year's worth of good ISP service.

How much would an ultra high net worth individual like to spend unleashing the creativity of people who would otherwise never be heard from?

[Gerry]

If he funds a program for 10,000 units, I can supply the machines for about $350, probably down to $150 if the volume goes up a bit more. The networking will be even less. The per/node recurring costs are really low already in high density urban areas. The entire West Side of Chicago could probably get wireless broadband for less than $5/household at current rates, and everything is heading down, not up.

[Phil Cubeta]

The process, I think, with the ultra high capacity donor starts with the donor, not with the advisor or charity or cause. The donor, like Ted, has his or her own very characteristic, and sometimes idiosyncratic "slant." An entrepreneur like Ted is not waiting for someone else's ideas; he has plenty of his own. "Pitching" causes is not a high percentage game. Donor-centered philanthropy is about working with the donor to clarify his or her vision, goals, objectives. The planner looks at financial capacity, and the degree of involvement that the donor wants ("How much skin in the game?"). Then the advisor may help the client research what is working in a given area of interest, and to develop a stratgic plan that begins from donor vison, flows through the donor's long term financial and estate plans, and then issues in projects and programs to accomplish the donor's sense of a better world.

If Ted sets up a foundation, that foundation would have grant-making guidelines within its area of focus.

If he thinks in a more entrepeneurial way - which he might well with nudging - he might look for stategic partners who bring talent and connections to the table. He might consider forprofit and nonprofit ventures. He might look at ways to make the ventures self-sustaining through earned income strategies.

But it all begins with a "mount of vision" experience. The donor/leader/hero has to glimpse a role for himself or herself in creating a better world - by a particular definition of better. You go into that conversation with a mind as empty as Zen monk's. No agenda, no preconceived answers or programs. Just deep divinatory listening. Out of that will come the "CEO level" direction - and it may involve the UN, or landmines, or scholarship programs, or creating a lending institution for micro-credit in some foreign country.

We are all eager to be generous with someone else's money and our own pet projects. But the funders have their own ideals. For those "funding seekers" who do have a good idea, the normal channel is to make a grant request from foundations that have a grant-making focus in that area. That is where you "pitch" an idea. But grants tend to be in small amounts, to established nonprofits, and not too visionary.

Gifthub is a fool's errand. Trying to get a conversation going to disintermediate some of the traditional stodgy infrastructure and get funders, advisors, and "do-ers" talking together creatively about how to make the world better. Ideally, that will issue in people hooking up to do good things.

[Jon Husband]

Lovely last comment, Phi and such a perfect segue into the post on "Life Coaches".

Which is what deep listeners that act as midwives to the CEO vision are - whether the CEO is a big rich powerful important guy or it's "you" the CEO of your own life.

But have you guys thought of calling "it" something other than life coaches ... so Dr. Phil

[Phil Cubeta]

How about trusted advisor? Civic Friend? Charitable Cheerleader? Certain people do this well. Peter Karoff is a prime example at The Philanthropic Initiative. He might call himself a philanthropic advisor, but if you want to get onh his good side, call him, "poet." Which he is. Barbara Brill from the Open Space Giving Conference does it. Jay Hughes, formerly of Hughes and Whitaker, who wrote a book on family wealth, does it well. Patricia Angus, trained by Hughes, now on her own as a consultant in family governance does it well, as do Doug Freeman, JD and Dr. Lee Hausner. I try to track these folks in Phil's Rolodex. The question is whether this core group of ultra-high end advisors to, in certain cases, billionaire dynastic wealth can be expanded downward into those who might give mere hundreds of thousands or millions. In that tier you have Scott Fithian, and the agents he trains, as well as various Private Banks, Insurance Companies, myCFO, and financial conglomerates like CITI who have local office supported by a national hub. All of this, though, is pretty intimidating in some ways. I visualize friends of a cause meeting two by two and in groups at a resort, and dreaming by the fire, late at night, of a better world. As Delmore Schwartz wrote, "In dreams begin responsibilities." I would like to see more events with the feel of friendship or open space in which we dream together, within shared ideals. Who can serve as catalyst for that? The bigshot advisors might not come, since their billing rates are so high and/or their firm would not have a lock on the business. But if the meeting were convened by a cause, as a soirée, or social event, various people could speak for the cause, or address what the process has meant for them, or talk on successes. I hope it would have that homey feel, not corporate. An event by the sea, or in ski resort, or in Santa Fe, or a donor's home. So maybe, the catalyst might call herself, "Social Director," or "Maven." I think such pocket meetings are happening in women's networks, at More than Money, and behind various other doors. If we can open that up just a little to include appropriate advisors, along with do-ers, we might have a productive "mixer." Ground rules would be needed, and some jerks might be invited once and never again. But the system would have a memory. People would get the reputation they deserve and the jerks would find they party alone. Open Space was a first faltering shot at this. It worked better than I imagined it would. But it could work even better if Lenore or Tracy or Jeff convened their own such spaces with carefully selected invitation lists, seeking productive diversity, as well as fellowship. Hope to do something like this in San Fran with Tracy in Q4 2004 and thereby develop a repeatable template.

[Jon Husband]

From Dan Gillmor's Blog:

Ted Turner: My Beef With Big Media.

As a business proposition, consolidation makes sense. The moguls behind the mergers are acting in their corporate interests and playing by the rules. We just shouldn't have those rules. They make sense for a corporation. But for a society, it's like over-fishing the oceans. When the independent businesses are gone, where will the new ideas come from? We have to do more than keep media giants from growing larger; they're already too big. We need a new set of rules that will break these huge companies to pieces.

[Chris Corrigan]

I like the way you think Phil...it was your whole "musing in the open" thing that got this whole mess started.

So conversation is really the way forward, eh? It's amazing when people connect, in pairs, in intimate and safe settings where diversity is welcomed and engagement is invited. The jerks are always among us, but those who lack the critical capacity to talk to one another in way that Lenore is now playing with are going to be eating dust. They'll find themselves alone and bewildered at the side of the road as their world view crumbles from an inability to find anyone who cares about it anymore.

Big media, big companies, big money don't speak. But they are all full of people who absolutely hunger for the chance to do so meaningfully.

"Whoever comes is the right people" works because only the right people ever show up and respond to the invitation. "Whatever happens is the only thing that could" works because we come to conversation with "minds as empty as a Zen monks" and a world before us as full of potential as a redwood seed.

[Phil Cubeta]

Chris, very well put. The amazing thing is the after-shocks of the meeting. I will keep posting the gist of what is happening by email, but I can tell you that Tracy, I, and Lenore are talking seriously about making this hub come to life forboth progressive and conservative donors and cause. What a great thing for democracy that we can all build the building within which we then hold a respectful debate. Also, Jeff Weissglass, Lisa Tracy (who works with Tracy Gary, I, Drake Zimmerman and a financial writer, Jean Russell are talking about how we can work together on ways materials to educate and inspire advisors and potential donors. Also Gerry and Julie are moving forward, as you know, with Emerging Futures and its mailing list. These are serious conversations like to issue in meaningful action. Before Open Space we could never have done this. Too many people and points of view were missing. Miracles do happen, I guess.

[Phil Cubeta]

Jon, Turner is a media mogul, as well as a giver, and a celebrity. What it makes me wonder about is accountability. To whom or what are the wealthy accountable? Some give, others not. Some give wisely, some foolishly. Some needs go unmet. What leverage has society, if we exclude taxes (as "involuntary philanthropy"? I am glad that Ted as giver gets press, and that he shames other billionaires into competing with him as a giver, but the whole culture of slavishly fawningly following the "winners," and their doings, makes me very wary. We have praise and blame, honor and shame, if nothing else to guide the givers. So, we need someting nuanced, not all fawning, not all critical. As Pindar said, "To praise what deserves praise."

[Jon Husband]

Delicious question(s), Phil - and slavishly following winners is what the USA's culture is all about, no ? It feels like all I can give/contribute is questions, but it feels good to sometimes open up some of your veins.

How and where might the giving that you have tapped into, and that I believe all people (including Americans) want to do from the center of their souls, begin to take on more importance than winning vesus losing ? For verily in all of us giving all of us win, no ?

[Phil]

Bloggging is all about links which are gifts of time and attention. Parents, volunteers, teachers, artists, we have plenty of daily givers on "the little grid" of our personal life. On "the big grid" of media and public affairs, all we can do as you say is watch, or ask our questions of the tv. We give as Bush said to our country by going to the mall or Disney world, other than that, sit quietly working in your cube.

[Jon]

Here's what Harry had to say in a recent comment on my blog. I so very much agree with him, and Ireally wonder a lot about the core aspects of blogging being coopted, just as being hip and ironic and cool and counter-culture have all been turned into flavours, for use by advertising when and as it suits them.

From Harry:

Bloggers must resist being coopted. I've mentioned this before on Inspector Lohmann's blog. The elite will always attempt to leverage new communications technology in order to keep their hold on power. Even a dim bulb like Bush is capable of grasping the lesson learned from the printing press and the samizdat.

They have all the power and all the money and they give outsiders thrills by taking them seriously. Today's social democrat is tomorrow's fair weather liberal.

I'd rather see them get drunk and pick fights with the delegates than follow the path being laid out for them.

[Phil]

Yes, in agreement. See WB on Winer. And the WB Blogger Buttons. In the end blogging is just a way for the likes of us to puplish without editors and without advertisers. What we do with these little printing presses is up to us, whether it is pamphleteering or handbills for a garage sale. I am embarassed at a gut level by what I have seen of convention blogging. Amateurs taken with themselves. The worst of both worlds.

[Ted Ernst]

Critical Mass is a bicycling organized coincidence in hundreds of cities around the world. People often call it a xerocracy, meaning those that write and copy the most and most compelling flyers end up having the most speach and making the most decisions. Isn't blogging also like that? My one little blog by itself isn't very influential, but connected with a growing circle of friends, it's all different.

[Phil Cubeta]

Yes, blogging is like that. None of us are influential on our own, but linked to 15 othes who are each linked to 15 othes, and so on, we can be very influential. Google is our friend because it loves links. If our links cluster around giving and democracy, many will enter our network from many angles; some will stay, and the network of conversations will grow. Very much an open space for civic life and organizing, too.

[Gerry]

Connecting Critical Mass and the convention, I heard reports today about a small group of riders potesting. Hope it doesn't rain on the Chicago ride tomorrow, I plan to be out there as long as it doesn't rain to hard.

[Corby Kemmer]

Does Mr. Turner give philinthropic gifts in other areas of need. As the smallest year public university in the country, receiving just 26% of our budget from the state and the majority of our alumni employed as teachers outside assistance is greatly needed. I would hope that Mr. Turner could help this fine but struggling university.

Sincerely,

Corby Kemmer
Development Associate
Mayville State University Foundation
330 Third Street NE
Mayville, ND 58257
(701) 788-4692 W

[Phil Cubeta]

I wish I could be more helpful. Mr. Turner is not part of my immediate network.

[geri marchant]

hello, i am hoping that mr.turner has a heart of gold like people say,i believe mr. turner came to outdoor play in lusk wy. and if he didn't ,i apologize to him. he has been a idol of mine for a long time. i am trying to start up a small business with native american crafts, our culture is fading fast and i would like to put items that my people make as i make things to for the public to see and to sell , we make leather shirts ,leggings, beaded items . we just need alittle help getting started , could mr. turner help? he owns a great deal of buffalo and we believe he will help please give a call to geri marchant 307-334-3723 if all this is possible thank you mr turner. i hope this is forward to you thanks geri ( remember the legend of rawhide}

[walter belema jerome]

Dear sir,
I, walter B. jerome a student of the university of portharcour in nigeria which to use this medium to ask for aid finacially or otherwise as i am going true hell in studying. I am from a very poor family of six and wish it happen that i am the fifth child, we hadly get a two couse meal a day . Paying of tution fee and my book is had for me, please sir in any way you can help me please do may the almithy God bless you.

Walter