Warren Buffett is undoubtedly one of the most well-known philanthropists in the world and his son, Peter, has followed in his charitable footsteps. A professional musician and lifelong altruist, Peter recently discussed the intersection of music and philanthropy in an interview with NPR. Peter perfectly summarized the commitment and challenges that he, as a philanthropist, and all charitable organizations, juggle on a daily basis when he said:
“It could be easy to give money away if you just wanted to be popular. Because you can give to all sorts of things and go to all sorts of parties and have my name on all sorts of things. It’s much harder to give in a systemic way and go upstream to fix what’s causing the problems in the first place–that’s a much heavier lift.”
We can relate. Operating in more than 74 countries, our Hard Rock Heals Foundation received close to 100 grant requests in our first ever granting season – and we expect even more in 2017! Every grant submission is led by a Hard Rock Cafe location and goes through an intense vetting process where we carefully review each charity’s commitment to music and its impact on their community. The grant – funded through donations, Heals merchandise purchases, and local campaigns – not only includes the designated financial assistance but also gifts ongoing support from their local Hard Rock Cafe team through volunteerism and brand partnership.