Exploring philanthropy, non-profits and socially motivated business, from the Gates Foundation to your donation. A fresh look at the economy of good intentions. 
 
 July 15, 2010 at 7:31 AM 
 
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 Posted by Kristi Heim 
 
 Billionaire Paul Allen has taken his friend Bill Gates up on his challenge to publicly pledge the majority of his wealth to philanthropy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS 
 
 Allen, who is 57, said today that he plans to leave the majority of his $13 billion estate to philanthropy to continue the work of his foundation and to fund scientific research. It was also a way of marking the 20th anniversary of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, which he started in 1990 with his sister, Jo Lynn Allen, and has since given 3,000 grants totaling about $400 million. 
 
 A month ago, Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett began a public campaign to encourage other billionaires to make a "Giving Pledge," and donate at least half of their wealth to charity. 
 
 Allen said he has planned to do that for many years, but he had not gone public with his intentions until now. 
 
 "He and Bill have talked about this and he thinks it's a good idea to let people know," said David Postman, a spokesman for Allen at Vulcan. "He hopes that maybe it spurs other people to give and he's hoping there will be good things that come of it." 
 
 Allen said he wanted to make it clear that his philanthropic efforts "will continue after my lifetime," he said in a statement. "As our philanthropy continues in the years ahead, we will look for new opportunities to make a difference in the lives of future generations." 
 
 This year Forbes ranked Allen as the world's 37th richest person with a fortune estimated at $13.5 billion. 
 
 His total giving over the years has reached about $1 billion, reflecting eclectic interests in science, the arts and education, including nonprofits he founded: the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the Experience Music Project. 
 
 While Gates' charity has become global in size and ambition, Allen's has remained mostly local and personal. 
 
 "Since the beginning, our philanthropy has been focused in the Pacific Northwest, where I live and work," Allen said. "I'm proud to have helped fund great work done by non-profit groups throughout the region. But there's always more to do." 
 
 Allen has battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma since his diagnosis last fall. He has finished chemotherapy treatments and has been been doing well, Postman said. Allen traveled to Africa recently, and has been "running businesses as much as he ever has. He stays intimately involved in the things he cares about." 
 
 
 
 
 
 JIM HALLAS/AP PHOTO/EASTSIDE JOURNAL 
 
 The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation also announced $3.9 million in funding to 41 nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest, focused largely on arts and culture. 
 
 The foundation gave Anniversary grants of $20,000 each to five individual founders of nonprofits, recognized as "change agents who created organizations that continue to deliver high impact programs for local communities." 
 
 The recipients are Rachel Bristol, founder and CEO of Oregon Food Bank; Bridget Cooke, founder and executive director of Adelante Mujeres in Forest Grove, Ore.; Jeanne Harmon, founder and executive director of the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession in Tacoma; Myra Platt and Jane Jones, founders of Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle; and Ken Stuart, founder and president of Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. 
 
 
 
 

 Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen said Thursday that he will give away the majority of his fortune, following a recent call by his former partner Bill Gates for billionaires to publicly pledge at least half of their wealth to philanthropy. 
 
 In a statement, Mr. Allen, 57 years old, said that his "philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime." 
 
 Mr. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Mr. Gates in 1975 then left the company in 1983 to become an investor in a range of media, cable and other ventures. In March ...
– Looks as though Bill Gates' billionaire challenge is paying off: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has pledged to give away most of his $13 billion fortune. He made the vow public a month after Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett urged the world's richest to give away at least half of their wealth. Allen, the 37th-richest person in the world on the most recent Forbes list, hopes to "spur other people to give," a rep tells the Seattle Times. Though he has not previously spoken out on philanthropy, Allen is no stranger to giving, notes the Wall Street Journal. The Seattle native has already given away about $1 billion, primarily in the Pacific Northwest. His new philanthropic effort will keep that same focus and add projects with an international scope, said his rep.