Product Description

Here, from Bill Clinton, is a call to action. "Giving" is an inspiring look at how each of us can change the world. First, it reveals the extraordinary and innovative efforts now being made by companies and organizations - and by individuals - to solve problems and save lives both 'down the street and around the world'. Then it urges us to seek out what each of us, 'regardless of income, available time, age, and skills', can do to help, to give people a chance to live out their dreams. Bill Clinton shares his own experiences and those of other givers, representing a global flood tide of nongovernmental, nonprofit activity. These remarkable stories demonstrate that gifts of time, skills, things, and ideas are as important and effective as contributions of money.From Bill and Melinda Gates to a six-year-old California girl named McKenzie Steiner, who organized and supervised drives to clean up the beach in her community, Clinton introduces us to both well-known and unknown heroes of giving. Clinton writes about men and women who traded in their corporate careers, and the fulfilment they now experience through giving. He writes about energy-efficient practices, about progressive companies going green, about promoting fair wages and decent working conditions around the world. He shows us how one of the most important ways of giving can be an effort to change, improve, or protect a government policy. He outlines what we as individuals can do, the steps we can take, how much we should consider giving, and why our giving is so important.Bill Clinton's own actions in his post-presidential years have had an enormous impact on the lives of millions. Through his foundation and his work in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, he has become an international spokesperson and model for the power of giving.

Product Details

• Published on: 2007-09-04
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 5
• Binding: Audio CD

From the Back Cover
Here, from Bill Clinton, is a call to action. Giving is an inspiring look at how each of us can change the world. First, it reveals the extraordinary and innovative efforts now being made by companies and organizations - and by individuals - to solve problems and save lives both 'down the street and around the world'. Then it urges us to seek out what each of us, 'regardless of income, available time, age, and skills', can do to help, to give people a chance to live out their dreams.

Bill Clinton shares his own experiences and those of other givers, representing a global flood tide of nongovernmental, nonprofit activity. These remarkable stories demonstrate that gifts of time, skills, things, and ideas are as important and effective as contributions of money. From Bill and Melinda Gates to a six-year-old California girl named McKenzie Steiner, who organized and supervised drives to clean up the beach in her community, Clinton introduces us to both well-known and unknown heroes of giving. Among them:

Dr. Paul Farmer, who grew up living in the family bus in a trailer park, vowed to devote his life to giving high-quality medical care to the poor and has built innovative public health-care clinics first in Haiti and then in Rwanda; a New York couple, in Africa for a wedding, who visited several schools in Zimbabwe and were appalled by the absence of textbooks and school supplies. They founded their own organization to gather and ship materials to thirty-five schools. After three years, the percentage of seventh-graders who pass reading tests increased from 5 percent to 60 percent; Oseola McCarty, who after seventy-five years of eking out a living by washing and ironing, gave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship fund for African-American students; Andre Agassi, who has created a college preparatory academy in the Las Vegas neighbourhood with the city's highest percentage of at-risk kids. 'Tennis was a stepping-stone for me,' says Agassi. 'Changing a child's life is what I always wanted to do'; Heifer International, which gave twelve goats to a Ugandan village. Within a year, Beatrice Biira's mother had earned enough money selling goat's milk to pay Beatrice's school fees and eventually to send all her children to school - and, as required, to pass on a baby goat to another family, thus multiplying the impact of the gift.

Clinton speaks about men and women who traded in their corporate careers, and the fulfilment they now experience through giving. He speaks about energy-efficient practices, about progressive companies going green, about promoting fair wages and decent working conditions around the world. He shows us how one of the most important ways of giving can be an effort to change, improve, or protect a government policy. He outlines what we as individuals can do, the steps we can take, how much we should consider giving, and why our giving is so important.

Bill Clinton's own actions in his post-presidential years have had an enormous impact on the lives of millions. Through his foundation and his work in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, he has become an international spokesperson and model for the power of giving.

'We all have the capacity to do great things,' President Clinton says. 'My hope is that the people and stories in this book will lift spirits, touch hearts, and demonstrate that citizen activism and service can be a powerful agent of change in the world.'

Customer Reviews

Advanced Lessons in Being Charitable
As a retired president of the United States, you can take it easy and enjoy life while drawing big paychecks for speaking . . . or you can start a new career contributing in new ways as Jimmy Carter did. Fortunately, Bill Clinton has aimed his high-powered intellect and passion for the underprivileged towards volunteering and best practice ways of helping those who need it most.

I am very engaged in volunteer activities to develop better ways to help the underprivileged. That work makes it hard for me to keep track of what others are doing. I found that Giving gave me several interesting new ideas for ways I can volunteer and share financial resources.

I also intend to recommend this book to my students who are working on poverty and disease problems in underdeveloped countries. Some of the ideas presented here would be helpful to them as well, such as providing opportunities for those in advanced countries to loan small amounts of money to entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries.

The chapters are organized around these concepts:

1. Individuals are doing more than ever to help others.
2. You can give money.
3. You can give your time.
4. You can donate items that are needed elsewhere.
5. You can help transfer skills so that others can help themselves.
6. You can help bring peace where there has been none.
7. You can provide gifts that have continuing benefits.
8. You can create ideal methods that others can use to help many more.
9. You can develop and share good ideas.
10. You can assemble economic scale to reduce the cost of helping in either for profit or nonprofit environments.
11. How you can determine how much and what to give.

I also enjoyed reading about an update on Bill Clinton's charitable activities around the world.

I thought of this book as being a lot like a catalog for giving. Many of the sections may not appeal to you. That's all right. You can gain from this book by just reading about what does interest you.

I especially the resource section which gives you a way to check out the giving ideas you like in more detail.

I can see this book as a turn-off for some. Let me describe why:

1. There's a lot in here about what billionaires and hedge fund managers do. Their examples aren't relevant for most people.

2. The style is pretty dry. You won't feel so much passion as having received a data dump in several sections.

3. If you don't have a lot of time, you'll be unsure how the time demands of many of the more interesting choices . . . so you'll find the book inadequate to pick a single area with little effort now.

4. There's a lot of international focus in the book. If your heart draws you closer to home, you may find the book to be a bit thin for your interests.

If you already like to give and want to give more and in better ways, I don't know of a better book for you to start with.

May God bless you as you give.

Disappointing
I have always found Bill Clinton an interesting and thought provoking politician. In his latest book, he takes the opportunity to address the importance of charitable deeds. While there are sprinkles of inspiration and interesting anecdotes, I think this book has some major short comings.

Firstly, surely it is preaching to the choir. I would imagine most people who will read this will already give and those that prefer not to just won't bother.

Secondly, he avoids tough philosophical questions pertaining to charitable deeds. For example, sometimes it's better for charities to amalgamate, especially if they are trying to achieve similar goals. All too often they prefer to work independently and waste opportunities to maximize economies of scale. Another question I thought he avoided pertains to the recurring pattern (especially in his book) where people - usually celebrities - feel motivated to give to charities that somehow relate to themselves. For example, Oprah Winfrey sets up a charity for academically gifted but economically disadvantaged girls in South Africa. That's great Oprah, but why is your charity only for women? Surely, we should be trying to help those who need it most not those who we feel easier to relate to.

Another tough question he avoids is the efficiency of charities. Some charities are efficient and make best use of funds, others waste copious amounts of money. It is therefore important not just to give, but to question and examine is what you are giving put to best use?

Finally, as much as I respect both the Clinton's, I couldn't help but feel there's an element of PR in this book. The timing of its release, when Hillary is seeking the highest political office in the US, can't just be a co-incidence.

I think anybody who takes charity and giving seriously may be a little disappointed with this book. I still respect Clinton, but there just is not enough critical analysis in this book.

Give a little cash and get an awesome read!
Now let me be honest from the outset- Bill Clinton is a bit of a hero of mine (apologies any Republicans!) I recently read his autobiography and am now in the process of reading Hilary's too.

So if I'm honest i bought this book as the whole products by the same author - BUT wow what a buy!

Bill has a great, warm and friendly style of writing that cant help but draw you in. The book really highlights the amazing work going on in the world from small school projects to massive microloan organisations. It really challenges you to look at your gifts - time, expertise, money and just give a little back and in doing so "each of us can change the world".

I'd DEFINATELY recommend this book to anyone with an interest in giving - or just an interest in Bill! Its a quick read (i finished it on a speedy train journey!) but you come away from it with a real desire to find out more about many of the projects mentioned.