Melinda French Gates’ Unconditional Donations Bring Doubt, Then Delight
- Philanthropist is straying from foundation’s stringent methods
- Nonprofit world is ‘overdue for a disruption,’ recipient says
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Melinda French Gates was one of the last people Richard Reeves expected to offer him $20 million. After all, French Gates is an advocate for women and girls and Reeves is the founder of the American Institute for Boys and Men.
But earlier this month, around when French Gates announced she was leaving the Gates Foundation with a fresh $12.5 billion in tow, Reeves and 11 others received an email that seemed too good to be true: She offered them each $20 million, no strings attached, to give to the charities of their choice.