Craigslist Q & A: Craig Newmark Philanthropy Matches Google’s Page and Brin
Bill Gates wants a “kinder capitalism”?
Craig Newmark’s namesake Craigslist has continuously prided itself on its community “service mission” and “uncommercial nature,” although the .org “was incorporated as a for-profit in 1999″ and the company is “doing well.”
Craig Newmark publicly shares that he has “everything he needs,” on the material front, thanks to his Craigslist endeavor, and is now particularly interested in non-financial returns:
I just have a reasonable sense of what matters to me, and I figure once a guy’s living comfortably and maybe if you can prepare for your future, then it’s more satisfying to change things. This is not that unusual in my basically nerd subculture; sometimes we’re surprised that people will pay us a lot of money, which is fun. And then once you do that, it’s more fun to change things. That does in fact reflect sometimes values most of us share, which includes the kind of Judeo-Christian tradition that the early Christians showed. So did the founding fathers. (as cited by PBS, November, 2006)
Craig Newmark has been using both his Craigslist fame, and “fortune,” in seeking to “change things,” through a variety of methods and vehicles.
Newmark is invited around the globe to share his insights and opinions on every aspect of the human condition: business, politics, social welfare…Newmark shares his Craigslist derived financial gains via diverse vehicles and strategies.
Craigslist and team, however, are as close to the vest about their “charitable” financial state of affairs as they are about their “for-profit” one. Public confirmations of Craigslist and/or Craig Newmark related “donations” include:
The Craig Newmark Foundation pledged $10,000 to NewAssignment.net’s “first reserve fund” in 2006, according to Jay Rosen, who underscored the money comes from “his personal charity, not the company.”
The Craigslist Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization featured at Craigslist, reported $231,000 in expenses to the IRS in 2005 for producing a “non profit bootcamp.”
A big $1.6 million charitable splash was made by Craigslist proper last week: The Universlty of California, Berkeley announced “plans to establish the first endowed faculty chair at the Berkeley Center for New Media with a donation of $1.6 million from craigslist.” The Craigslist $1.6 million will “support research, symposia and lectures” in the areas of “privacy, reputation, trust, access and new ways to encourage socially constructive actions.”
At the time of Craig Newmark’s direct contribution to NewAssignment.net, I asked him how he evaluates the “return” on his “investment” and timeframes for measuring success. Newmark told me:
I don’t see a way to evaluate this, and I guess I’m not too concerned, since this project I figure will mature in the two to twenty year time frame. Sometimes, you gotta stand up, and have confidence in others.
Craigslist has $1.6 million worth of confidence in UC Berkeley. Newmark underscores “Jim gets the credit regarding the craigslist endowed chair at UC Berkeley.” Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist CEO, also gets to serve as a founding member of the Berkeley Center for New Media’s executive advisory board.
What will Buckmaster’s role be at UC Berkeley? What does Craigslist hope to gain from the personal and financial collaboration? I asked Buckmaster for insights into the Craigslist $1.6 million donation for the Berkeley Center for New Media.
What will Buckmaster personally lobby for, in his executive advisory role, as areas of initial research pursuit and what specific actionable types of deliverables does he expect such research projects to produce? It’s too early to say, according to Buckmaster, but he will strive to be “useful in any way that makes sense.”
In explaining the Craigslist affitinity for UC Berkeley, Buckmaster said: “We rely upon technological innovations from the UC Berkeley community every day. We’re excited to partner with the Berkeley Center for New Media, as it is uniquely positioned to change the very way we think about new media.”
I asked Buckmaster which specific UC Berkeley innovations Craigslist has benefitted from to date and how future work products of the Berkeley Center for New Media will directlly impact Craigslist. Buckmaster told me:
Specific technical innovations that we benefit from everyday include Berkeley UNIX relational databases, BIND domain name server, RAID storage management and vi editor. We are not counting on the new center for specific innovations, but will enjoy collaborating with them in the years to come.
I asked the Craigslist CEO to drill down on the hows and whys of the $1.6 million donation.
INSIDER CHATTER: Did shareholder eBay have a voice in the Craigslist decision to donate to the new Berkeley center?
BUCKMASTER: No.
INSIDER CHATTER: Will Craigslist rasise the rate of existing listings fees and/or implememt listings fees in new catgegories in order to support further large donations to other organizations?
BUCKMASTER: We don’t forsee any change in fees to support philanthropic contributions.
INSIDER CHATTER: Has Craigslist set aside a specific percentage of its earnings to specifically fund such donations?
BUCKMASTER: In recent years we have generally donated 1% or more of our annual revenue to charitable concerns.
The one percent rule? Sounds very Googley! According to Google.org:
In 2004, when Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin wrote to prospective shareholders about their vision for the company, they outlined a commitment to contribute significant resources, including 1% of Google’s equity and profits in some form, as well as employee time, to address some of the world’s most urgent problems. That commitment became Google.org.
Craig Newmark’s commitment is Craigslist.org. The little email list that could is as generous as the world famous $200 billion market cap Googley corporation.
SEE: Frugal Google.org: How NOT To Save the World On $159,000 a Day and Yahoo Shareholder on Microsoft Bid: AOL, Time Warner All Over Again?
PLUS: EveryBlock Tests Craigslist RSS Feed Generosity: Missed Connection? and Craigslist PR: Same OLD Media? and Craigslist vs. EveryBlock? UC Berkeley New Media Case Study