The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Is a Marketing Tool, Not a Charity
CAPITALISM, 7 Dec 2015
Emily Baselt Steiger – TRANSCEND Media Service
2 Dec 2015 – This week, the internet exploded with news stories that Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan pledged to donate 99% of their wealth to charity through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The mission of the Initiative, which was founded in 2009, is to “advance human potential and promote equality.” So far, the Initiative has donated millions to a children’s hospital, an organization that helps undocumented immigrants attend college, and other causes. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative also has the added–and intentional–benefit of rehabilitating Facebook’s reputation.
Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan.
Here’s the thing: the Chan-Zuckerbergs have not pledged to donate anything. They’ve pledged to “give away” the huge majority of their Facebook shares, which is easy to mistake as the same thing. But the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is not a non-profit. It’s a limited liability company and it’s owned by Mark Zuckerberg. The Initiative is not obligated to donate anything to anyone. When the Chan-Zuckerbergs say they will “give away” their wealth, that includes “giving it away” by investing in for-profit corporations, primarily ones focused on education technology: $5 million to MasteryConnect and $15 million to AltSchool last month alone.
How does this make the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative the savior of Facebook’s reputation? Anyone familiar with Facebook’s rhetoric noticed the familiar “connecting people” phraseology in the announcement about the Chan-Zuckerbergs’ pledge. For years, this has been how Facebook has positioned itself: as a for-profit organization that is engaging in social good by providing the wonderful service of connecting us with our loved ones all around the world, for free! That’s much friendlier branding than “The World’s Smartest Billboard.”
There’s a reason the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is an LLC instead of, say, a charitable trust. An LLC gives Zuckerberg much more control over the organization, and as far as I can tell, there’s not much to prevent the Initiative from “giving away” money to Big Oil and Haliburton down the road, if Zuckerberg decides that’s what he wants to do. Beyond that, Zuckerberg has worked hard to position Facebook as a social good organization that, also, makes a killing selling information to advertisers. That sounds awfully similar to how the Initiative has been portrayed: a social good organization dedicated to advancing human potential and equality that, also, “gives away” tens of millions of dollars by investing them in for-profit corporations.
Of course, plenty of corporations have charitable arms and plenty of rich people have charitable foundations. The Initiative is different because it’s a company deliberately designed to look like a charity, but with none of the accountability or transparency that comes with being a charitable non-profit or private foundation.
These are not irrelevant details. When headlines about the Initiative include words like “donate” and “charity,” they’re lumping the Initiative’s for-profit investments with its charitable donations. They’re implicitly equating the two. They’re suggesting that a for-profit technology company performs the same kind of public service as a charity. When the public starts thinking of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC, as a non-profit and of technology companies as charities, then Facebook, by extension, becomes a charity in the public’s mind, as well. Just as Mark Zuckerberg intended.
That subtle rebranding is a huge win for Facebook. Facebook has been subject to increasing scrutiny, especially when it comes to privacy controls. For example, articles recently popped up across the web about sketchy third-party sites that collect and permanently store Facebook data. Facebook the Corporation is a dangerous, desolate landscape, full of hidden booby traps that will steal your information and sell it to the highest bidder (and with a healthy dose of racist rants from your crazy aunt, to boot).
But Facebook’s quiet rebranding, thanks to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, is reminding users of Facebook as we used to perceive it: Facebook the Charity. Facebook the Charity is providing an always-free service to the public! Facebook the Charity is connecting you with your best friend from elementary school! Facebook the Charity reminds you to vote and facilitates donations during national disasters! Facebook the Charity lets you share cute cat videos to your heart’s content! We can trust Facebook the Charity!
I am completely convinced the Chan-Zuckerbergs are sincere in their good intentions. Their donations will make a huge difference in people’s lives. Countless Americans donate money to charity to make an impact, but also to claim a tax deduction–and we don’t blame them for that. If the Chan-Zuckerbergs manage their fortune in a way that benefits society while also benefiting the company that made them that fortune in the first place, I won’t blame them for that, either.
What I will say is that Mark Zuckerberg is smart. As a non-profit professional, I caution against the blurring of lines between true charities and for-profit companies whose products happen to make our lives a little easier or provide some amount of social value. But as a Facebook advertiser, I also open my arms wide and welcome the masses back to a seemingly trustworthy Facebook. Go ahead, tell Facebook everything about yourself–I’ve got a great ad to show you.
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Emily Baselt Steiger – Fundraiser and marketer in the LinkedIn non-profit sector.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 7 Dec 2015.
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