Sooner or later every fundraiser has heard—and many have put to use—the story of the “Widow’s mite” in terms of illustrating and suggesting a level of sacrificial and cheerful giving.

Mark 12:42-44 and Luke 21:2-4 tell the story of the widow who gave all she had, two “mites”—the tiny copper coins circulated in Judaea during the time of Christ and worth about 2 pennies or six minutes of the average daily wage.

The traditional interpretation of the story tends to view it as contrasting the conduct of the wealthy with that of the widow, used in some fundraising literature to encourage generous giving often accompanied by Corinthians 9:7, “… for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Fast forward to 2020 A.D.

Sadly, In the midst the of the coronavirus pandemic the biblical story line appears to be holding up.  In a fascinating piece of reporting  a Washington Post survey of the nation’s 50 wealthiest people and families, who have a collective net worth of nearly $1.6 trillion, found that their public donations amount to about $1 billion.

Sounds like a lot of money, but according to the Post their Covid-19 giving adds up to less than 0.1 percent of their combined wealth.  Far less than the widow’s mite.

Sure, these billionaires’ contributions of hundreds of millions for Covid-19 relief appear magnanimous and impressive.  But not that generous and grand when their immense fortunes are taken into account.

To put the billionaire’s Covid-19 giving in perspective the reporters used data from the federal Survey of Consumer Finances to calculate their gifts in terms equivalent to the net worth ($97,300) of the median American Donor. (The billionaires’ estimated net worth information came from the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list of April 22.)

Some examples of the equivalency:

• Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest man in the world with a fortune of $143 billion, gave $100 million to Feeding America and up to $25 million for All in WA. Bezos’s giving is the equivalent of donating $85.
• Hedge fund manager Steven Cohen, worth $14 billion, has donated more than $6 million to Covid-9 relief efforts. The equivalent of $43 for the median American.
• Los Angels Rams owner Stan Kroenke, worth $10 billion, has given $500,000 to launch a Covid-19 relief fund. The equivalent of $5 for the median American.

The list goes on with very, very few exceptions.  Read the complete story for other examples.

Two exceptions stand out:

• Bill Gates, the godfather of billionaire philanthropy, has a net worth of $103 billion has spearheaded a comprehensive campaign to mitigate and eradicate the virus spending about $300 million through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition, the foundation has given more than $50 billion in grants since its founding. In terms of donations from his personal wealth Gates Covid-19 giving equates is equivalent to $283 for the median American.
• Jack Dorsey,co-founder and CEO of Twitter, who ranks 147th on the list of wealthiest Americans, according to Forbes. According to the Post In early April, Dorsey pledged $1 billion of his shares in the mobile payment company Square — about 28 percent of his then-$3.6 billion net worth — to covid-19 relief and charities. This makes him the most generous of the 50 top billionaires. For the median American, Dorsey’s giving equates to more than $27,000.

If you’re curious about who’s not contributing and the reasons given for not contributing more in this moment of crisis…or if you’re wondering what critics are saying ( “I don’t mean to be uncharitable, but much of this [giving] is self-serving rubbish.” says former labor secretary Robert Reich)… I urge you to read the complete story.

The bad news is that both the pandemic and  economic inequality will be with us for a long time.  So the good news is the billionaires have plenty of time to catch up.

Roger