Over at Slashdot there's news of Google's starting a foundation, at Google.org. I'm very amused by the complaints posted on Slashdot about this development, and about businesses or business-people's charitable works.
Yes, Google gets a tax break by donating to charity. But so do most US citizens when you give cash (or time, or gas expenses, or whatever) to charitable causes. So suggesting that Google is being somehow underhand by starting a foundation is a petty argument sourced in sheer cynicism... Unless you only contribute to charity for the tax break?
The fact is, Google has scads of money just lying about the place. They can invest it in financial markets, but sometimes the "return on investment" is better if that same money is invested in good works, such as scientific research, food programs, and so on. It depends on your definition of "return," I guess.
Regardless of what you think about their ethics or business practices, Brin+Page, Gates, Case, and the like have chosen to invest their capital in ventures that will (ideally) generate more than a capital return in the short-term. By doing so through a foundation, they're demonstrating both good business sense and laudable philanthropy. They shouldn't be condemned for either.
Comments