Noblesse Oblige: A historical perspective on philanthropic pursuit – Part 1 Historical perspective on modern charity giving

In today’s standardized fundraising strategies, charitable organizations tend to follow a 3-phase process in attracting and retaining major gift donors which are cultivation, solicitation and stewardship phases. These phases are the slow, yet deliberate, steps involved in what is referred to as “Moves Management” in the nonprofit arena by which we work toward aligning major gift donors with our charitable cause. Although this method of engagement has proven to be successful over time, these phases rely more upon gaining initial and then consistent monetary contribution from donors and less upon obligating them to become actual participants as volunteers within the philanthropic pursuit. 

A phrase that embodies the true philanthropic obligation is one that is often misinterpreted in its true spirit. And this phrase is “Noblesse Oblige”. In recent years, it is a phrase that is taken on a connotation that has been interpreted as an attribute or award we bestow upon charitable benefactors. I feel too often that we put more emphasis on the “noble” aspect of the phrase and less upon the “obligation”, which I feel is the true spirit of the phrase.

What is the literal meaning of Noblesse Oblige?

Noblesse Oblige is a French phrase not so often heard in this day and age. Wikipedia defines it as “nobility obligates”. Meaning, a noble man’s responsibility is to be generous toward those around him who are less fortunate. In other words, a privileged man’s responsibility to be generous to those who are less privileged. However, in today’s modern society, it means a person participating by sharing his/her time, talents or skills.

What is the historical perspective of Noblesse Oblige?

Noblesse Oblige was first used by a French novelist in 1835. His novel was called “Le Lys Dans La Vallée (English: The Lily of the Valley). The driving concept of his novel is about love and society which addresses a certain social standard of a young man’s behavior and is summed up in words: “Everything I have just told you can be summarized by an old word: noblesse oblige!"

We can truly trace the history of Noblesse Oblige in the Bible. One such verse that sticks out most prominently is Luke 12:48 “But even more will be demanded (obligated) from the one to whom much has been entrusted”, (ISV).

One of the earliest examples of Noblesse Oblige comes to us from 5000 years ago, when Joseph was released from prison to interpret a troubling dream of the Egyptian Pharaoh. The interpretation was as such that there will be 7 years of great agricultural prosperity and then shortly thereafter, there will be seven years of the most severe famine overtaking the land of Egypt. Joseph advised Pharaoh that during this prosperous time he should set aside, in reserve, a larger portion grain than normal to sustain his people through the seven years of famine to follow. Although Pharaoh could have only set aside enough grain for those of noble birth, instead, he asked those in his kingdom of royal descent to be more conservative during the time of prosperity. This was to ensure that there would be adequate grain reserves to sustain his people throughout the lean years of famine.

This magnanimous act by Pharaoh was perhaps the first recorded example in the history of Noblesse Oblige. Thereafter, Pharaoh’s status was elevated as one of the most beloved kings in history.

Moving forward in history to the time of the New Testament, Jesus Christ gave us 2 examples of Noblesse Oblige that had a much deeper meaning than the actual stories he presented. In one parable, he shared that you do not need to be of either noble birth nor wealthy in order to exhibit the charitable attributes of Noblesse Oblige.

In Christ’s first example, he spoke of the poor widow who gave her last mite (penny) to those she felt were less fortunate than even herself. In so doing, she gave all that she had. Whereas, in a further example, Christ spoke of a wealthy noble who came to him asking how he could receive eternal life. Jesus asked of him to give away all of his wealth to the poor, pick up his cross and follow him. To which the wealthy noble replied that this request may be too difficult for him to comply with. Jesus responded that it is easier for a camel to thread the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven.

It is of my humble opinion, that Jesus was simply asking him to be willing to give all of his wealth to the poor. The concept was being more a matter of the proper mindset of one’s heart that Jesus was looking for. By these two examples provided by Jesus Christ, we can see that Noblesse Oblige is not always a monetary issue, but rather a willingness of the heart to provide our talents, skill sets and gifts to those less fortunate than ourselves. No matter what station we have in life.

The true embodiment of Noblesse Oblige

In more recent history, a shining example of the true spirit of Noblesse Oblige would be that of the wealthy industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, who perhaps took the words of Christ, concerning giving away one’s entire wealth, quite literally.

Andrew Carnegie’s famous quote from his book, The Gospel of Wealth: “ The man of wealth should consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer to produce the most beneficial results for the community - the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience and ability to administer, doing for them better than that they would or could do for themselves”.

As you can see from Carnegie’s own words, that it was not just enough to give money away to those less fortunate, but in fact, to become a participant in the management of such trust utilizing one’s experience and talents.

Carnegie further wrote: “The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was free for him to administer during life, will pass away unwept, unhonored, and unsung, no matter to what uses he leaves the dross which he cannot take with him. Of such, as these the public verdict will then be: The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced. Such, in my opinion, is the true gospel concerning wealth, obedience to which is destined some day to solve the problem of the rich and the poor”.

Note: “The Gospel of Wealth", is a book written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich. Since his book was penned, many of the world’s great philanthropists have closely adhered to these principles.

Since the age of 33, Carnegie had been content to live off a modest salary of as little as $50,000.00 per year. Although by today’s standards, this would be as much as $500,000.00 a year. Nonetheless, It was less than a 10th of 1% of the profit his company produced. The surplus of his wealth which would equate in the billions today, he invested in community trusts. They are still benefiting people of all walks of life around the world to this very day.

As a philanthropist, Carnegie gave away the majority of his wealth and trust to education and arts building libraries, concert halls and even universities. However, Carnegie always held a single caveat when it came to philanthropies, to wit, if he provided the money to benefit a community, that same community must contribute something toward the value of that endeavor as well. For example, many towns and cities in which he built libraries, he required the people of those communities to donate their personal books to the library. Meaning, he did not want the beneficiaries of his philanthropic endeavors to simply be consumers (spectators) of such, but rather, he wanted them to also become actors in their own benefit so that they would take on an ownership of appreciation that they themselves had a part in making their lives better.

Today’s pledge of Noblesse Oblige

Today, the “Giving Pledge” has become a worldwide charitable campaign of Noblesse Oblige positioned to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. As of 2017, the pledge has 158 signers, either individuals or couples; some of the 158 signers have since died. Most of the signers of the pledge are billionaires, and their pledges total to over $365 billion.

The Giving Pledge organization's goal is to inspire the wealthy people of the world to give at least half of their net worth to philanthropy, either during their lifetime or upon their death. The pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract. On The Giving Pledge's website, each individual or couple writes a letter explaining why they chose to give.

In June 2010, the Giving Pledge campaign was formally announced and Bill Gates and Warren Buffett began recruiting members. In August 2010, the aggregate wealth of the first 40 pledgers was $125 billion. By April 2011, 69 billionaires had joined the campaign and given a pledge, and by the following year, The Huffington Post reported that a total of 81 billionaires had committed.

By the year 2012, signatories of the pledge included: Hasso Plattner, David Rockefeller, Azim Premji, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Sara Blakely, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Today, as of the writing of this article, September 2017, 158 individuals and/or couples were listed as pledgers. At least $365 billion of giving has been pledged by 139 individuals, with a combined 2016 net worth of $731 billion.

Excerpts from: The Giving Pledge - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge

What is your obligation to your donor?

Your donor may not be a billionaire or a millionaire. But what has God bestowed upon your prospective contributors in terms of talent, knowledge, resources and skill sets? Are there donors, within your pool of contributors, who have made major monetary gifts who can also become your organization’s brand ambassadors and inspire others to the cause of your charitable organization?

In the same fashion, as Andrew Carnegie requested that those benefiting from his charitable efforts should take ownership of community projects as actors and players themselves, we would do a discredit toward potential major gift donors if we did not allow them a way to participate in the causes for which we are expecting them to donate some form of monetary value.

By allowing our major gift donors (those who have already contributed to your cause), as well as, our prospects to volunteer their time, prior to opening up their checkbook, we are, in fact, respecting them as participants. It is a sensible thing to do. Allow them to gain ownership through volunteerism and participation.

Perhaps, we may want to change our perspective on what the attribute of Noblesse Oblige truly means when it is time for the big “Ask”.