Gatekeepers | The American Prospect

Gatekeepers | The American Prospect: "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. Cases like Avahan show how the execution can fall far short of hopes. In regions where aid dependence has been a curse to rival poverty and disease, the very idea of charity is suspect. And a growing class of so-called social entrepreneurs is pushing a private-sector development model that they say is more sustainable."