Apple has donated $500K to the anti-poverty initiative SF Gives, according to people close to the matter.
Launched in March this year, SF Gives is the joint venture of Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff and Daniel Lurie, CEO of the nonprofit Tipping Point. Their goal is to get 20 businesses to contribute $500,000 each to fund local charitable programs.
Of course, when you’ve got more money in the bank than the gross domestic product of the whole of Luxembourg, giving $500K to charity isn’t exactly breaking the bank. But it’s interesting because it shows a public commitment to charity in line with Tim Cook’s vision for Apple as a philanthropic “force for good” in the world.
In November last year, Apple raised $70 million for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through the sales of (PRODUCT) RED-themed devices. It has also donated tens of millions to Stanford hospitals.
Cook himself has auctioned off a coffee date with himself on two separate occasions with a view to raising money for charity.
Some will argue that Silicon Valley needs to do more as a whole, but moves like this are certainly a step in the right direction.
Source: Fortune
