The Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving & Global Citizen’s Give While You Live Campaign Partner Together, Aiming to Unlock Billions of Charitable Dollars

(New York, New York | Washington, D.C. | Monday, April 5, 2021) – The Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving and international advocacy organization Global Citizen’s Give While You Live campaign today announced an alliance to come together to try and unlock billions of charitable dollars currently pledged, or sitting in private foundations and donor-advised funds. Led by billionaire philanthropists John and Laura Arnold, the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving is a coalition of philanthropists, leaders of major foundations, nonprofits and others who represent a broad spectrum of interests across philanthropy, dedicated to finding common sense solutions to ensure philanthropic dollars reach working charities and the communities they serve. Launched in January 2020, Global Citizen’s Give While You Live campaign is calling on the world’s billionaires to go further faster, by giving a minimum of 5% of their wealth away per year. The two organizations are coming together to accelerate philanthropy and increase funding and resources to organizations working to meet the most pressing challenges of the day. To show their commitment to this cause, John and Laura Arnold have committed to the Give While You Live Promise to give away 5% of their wealth annually.

“Right now, many charities are in danger of not surviving the pandemic. Yet, more than $1 trillion promised to them remains warehoused in tax-free investment accounts. America’s charities cannot afford to wait for some larger crisis to arise. Business as usual is simply not good enough,” said John Arnold, founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures. “The Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving is proud to have Global Citizen as a partner to strengthen the charitable sector and unlock much-needed resources for nonprofits and people in need. Now is the time to transform philanthropic commitments into philanthropic action.”

Chris Stadler, co-chair of the Global Citizen board of directors and a managing partner at CVC Capital Partners, has led the Give While You Live campaign which launched at the World Economic Forum in 2020 and garnered support from artists, philanthropists, corporations and foundations worldwide.

"John Arnold is a philanthropic leader who understands that the world's wealthiest need to do more and give more, now, not later," said Chris Stadler, board co-chair for Global Citizen and a managing partner of CVC Capital Partners. "We are thrilled to have his pledge and support of the Give While You Live campaign and to be partnering with the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving to unlock billions of philanthropic dollars the world desperately needs."

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