We've randomly selected 12 residents of Liverpool, UK and asked them to decide what should happen to £100k. They are currently taking part in a series of facilitated discussions with the aim of reaching an agreement about how the money should be given away. There are almost no limits on what they can decide. The money could go to any cause, from animal rights to poverty reduction, environmental protection to medical research. It could even be distributed as payments to individuals. The beneficiaries can be local, national, or international. We'll share details of what they decide in the autumn of 2023. Follow for updates from the process.
External link for Wealth Shared
Liverpool, GB
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In the Guardian today there's a feature about Wealth Shared, a project where I recruited 12 random strangers to decide what should happen to £100k I inherited. One of the beneficiaries the group selected was Team Oasis, a Liverpool-based children's charity. The article describes the support the charity is providing to young people to build connections and pursue their passions. I find it very gratifying reading, as you can imagine. https://lnkd.in/eJCNFG-3
It’s been announced this week what happened when Marlene Engelhorn asked 50 randomly-selected Austrians to give away her £21m fortune. They opted for a selection of 77 organisations including conservation charities, a left-wing think tank, a community football club, a religious group and a homeless shelter. I think what is striking is the diversity of the beneficiaries chosen - both in terms of the causes they seek to address and their “theories of change”. For example the money will go to groups focused on advocating for policy change as well as others focused on on-the-ground service delivery. "The result is as diverse as the Council itself.” says the project manager for Marlene's Guter Rat für Rückverteilung initiative. “What all the decisions have in common is that they want a fairer society. They want everyone to live well together. And they want to support those who are discriminated against." I'm curious as to how the outcome of initiatives like this is shaped by their design. There are a few differences between Marlene Engelhorn’s project and Wealth Shared, a process I organised last year where 12 random strangers from Liverpool decided what should happen to £100k I inherited. The Liverpool cohort opted to give the money to four organisations aimed at improving the life chances of people in the local area. The Austrian project involved a much larger cohort of people from all over the country, they were given a longer time to deliberate (six weekends vs four two-hour sessions), and they were provided with lectures, including from philosophers and economics professors, to inspire their choices on who would ultimately get the money. They were specifically encouraged to consider issues around wealth distribution and inequality, whereas we chose to leave the deliberation as more of an unstructured free-for-all. Although issues around inequality and wealth did come up in the discussion. An element of the Austrian project I really like is that the decision-makers have had a platform to present their conclusions in their own words. I think it’s very exciting to see further iterations of this concept. I think bringing together diverse groups of citizens is a powerful way of unlocking wisdom and ingenuity. The question of “how to use money to make the world better” can be approached in new and smarter ways. https://lnkd.in/eC5iGqku #philanthropy #inequality #democracy
Wealth Shared reposted this
If you've been following the story about Austrian heiress Marlene Engelhorn handing over decision-making power over how her fortune gets given away to a group of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens, then you'll be interested to know that the group has now decided what to do with the money. https://lnkd.in/e26g8kUp They are giving grants to 77 orgs (ranging from EUR 40K to more than EUR 1.5m), across a wide range of cause areas - although there is an emphasis on environment, education and poverty issues (which you would probably expect, given that awareness of current challenges in these areas is likely to be high among members of the public) You can read the full list of recipients, along with some fascinating insight about the process here: https://lnkd.in/eHVHjA8P (And if you want to hear more about a similar project here in Liverpool, do check out my conversation with David Clarke about Wealth Shared for the Philanthropisms podcast earlier this year: https://lnkd.in/eCEi9Hmy
The One Show, the BBC's flagship magazine programme, featured our project this week. How did we end up giving 12 random strangers control of £100k? And what happened to the money? Watch the episode to follow the full story: https://lnkd.in/eQNebP9i
A film about Wealth Shared will air as part of The One Show tonight. You can watch it at 7pm on BBC One or afterwards on iPlayer. 📺 #democracy #wealthinequality #philanthropy