Zuck’s Newark Gift Wasn’t a Failure

A few months ago, Mark Zuckerberg​ was lambasted in the press for “failing” with his $100M gift to Newark public schools. I listened to the author of a book on this project on Fresh Air​ feeling frustrated — would this criticism make him scared to give to other projects? Would it make other tech founders reluctant to pursue philanthropy?

Here’s how I see it: Mark didn’t fail, even if his Newark investment didn’t turn out the way he’d hoped. He demonstrated something important: that giving is as complex and difficult as investing. It’s not perfect, and there are a million things that can go wrong. As with venture capital, we should be comfortable taking risks in philanthropy in order to solve the biggest problems. Nine out of ten VC investments fail, and we’re okay with that — we realize it’s the price we way for innovation. So why do we think philanthropy is any different?

Each of the Facebook founders have been very generous at a very early age, well before most people think about being philanthropists. I love the example they’re setting. We don’t have to wait until the latter half of our life to start thinking about making the world better. And we don’t have to choose the safest destinations for our dollars, either.

Last week, Zuckerberg announced a major gift to SF General Hospital, funding an acute care center. He is seemingly undeterred by criticism of the Newark program. This is brave. We should applaud him. I’m glad Mark is continuing to give to causes he cares about, and I hope the rest of Silicon Valley follows suit this season.