In an opinion piece in the New York Times this week, Craig Newmark of Craigslist fame wrote about his decision to sign the “Giving Pledge” last year with the goal of giving up to $1 billion to nonprofits, and he’s been encouraging other wealthy people to do the same.

As San Francisco’s beloved online marketplace, Craigslist, turns 31 this year, founder and philanthropist Craig Newmark said in an interview with NBC Bay Area that he's made it his mission to “inspire other people with too much money” to donate some of their fortunes to good causes. Newmark wrote in an Op-Ed for the New York Times Monday that he’s donated $450 million of his wealth so far, and last year, he signed the “Giving Pledge” to donate up to $1 billion.

“When I started Craigslist in the mid-1990s I never thought I’d become rich. But I did,” writes Newmark. “A lot of people in tech around that time also got lucky. Millions — even billions — were made simply by being in the right place at the right time.”

“That’s too much money for anyone to have, so I’m giving most of it away to people and causes that need it,” he continues.

Newmark explains in the Times that the Giving Pledge, which was founded by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates, is geared toward very wealthy people who agree to give most of their fortunes away to charitable causes before their deaths or through their wills.

“After donating more than $450 million over the past decade or so I was well on my way to doing it on my own,” he writes. “But I thought being more public about giving might help convince someone else with a lot of money to give it away, too.”

Newmark writes that he’s been spreading the word about the pledge, but he says some billionaires have vocally criticized it, calling it foolish to give away one’s fortune, especially to “leftwing” nonprofits. He explains that the pledge allows donors to choose whichever charitable causes they want.

“It makes no sense to me that others with this kind of money would criticize anyone doing this,” he writes, via the Times.

“I use the money I made to help people who are trying to make life better for all of us humans,” he explains. “It seems to me that the 250 or so people who signed the pledge are trying to do some version of the same thing. How is that not a good thing?”

Newmark's donations reportedly support causes like independent journalism, active military personnel and veterans, cybersecurity, and pigeon rescue groups.

Newmark, who started Craigslist as an email list for San Francisco events in the 1990s, describes himself in the Times as a programmer rather than a businessman, and says he kept the site intentionally simple and largely free for users. He turned down early buyout offers and introduced limited fees mainly for commercial postings, arguing it wasn’t fair for companies to profit off the platform without contributing.

“When I became accidentally wealthy it meant a lot to me that I could help people who were less lucky,” writes Newmark.

Image: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 06: Craig Newmark attends the 17th Annual Stand Up For Heroes Benefit presented by Bob Woodruff Foundation and NY Comedy Festival at David Geffen Hall on November 06, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation)

As Hurricane Harvey continues to wreak havoc and leave Greater Houston under many feet of water, two Bay Area tech giants are pledging matching funds to encourage private citizens to donate to the disaster relief effort.

As the Associated Press reports, as of this morning, Facebook pledged up to $1 million in matching donations made through their platform to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), which has a Donate button at the top of its Facebook page.

"Please know that donations will be distributed to vetted nonprofit organizations with the capacity and capabilities to help Harvey-affected communities recover," writes the CDP. "The CDP Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund is focused on medium and long-term rebuilding needs. We know from past disasters, especially through our experiences with hurricanes and floods, full recovery will likely take many years. The CDP Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund will support recovery needs long after the TV cameras and news teams rollup coverage and turn the eye of the world away from this disaster."

Meanwhile, Google has set up its own disaster relief page, pledging to match the first $1 million in donations made there to the organization Network For Good, which will send funds along to the American Red Cross for the immediate relief effort. Says the company, "Google will cover all processing fees so that 100% of your donation goes to where it is needed most."

Google also announced Tuesday that it had matched employee donations and already sent $750,000 through its non-profit arm, Google.org, to organizations including the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and Save the Children.

After six days of pummeling the region, Harvey has now set a record for the most recorded rainfall from a single tropical cyclone in the continental US, according to the New York Times, topping 48 inches so far.

Benevolent and wealthy musical sensation Lady Gaga apparently handed out money to homeless people after performing to a sold-out crowd at AT&T Park on Sunday night.

According to Twitter user @dinogaga16 - in a tweet that has since been deleted! — Gaga herself handed cash to several homeless folks, presumably around AT&T Park after the show.

ABC 7 reports that the original tweet contained a video of Gaga passing out money and proclaimed, "@ladygaga Giving money to the homeless in San Fransisco Tonight. Her heart is so big! I love you! ❤️💋 #JoanneWorldTour #ladygaga - xoxo, Danny." It's unclear what street she's on, but it appears to be somewhere in SoMa where some people were in sleeping bags or blankets along the sidewalk.

Don't worry. There are more tweets of this, although they might be using "Danny's" video.

But wait. There is more Gaga giving.

Meanwhile, KRON 4 has the news that Lady Gaga's mom, Cynthia Germanotta joined forces with United Way San Francisco and Gaga's Born This Way Foundation to pack and distribute over 400 backpacks to local elementary, high school, and college students. Handwritten notes and hygiene kits were included in the packs.

This follows on a story last week in which Staples teamed with Gaga's foundation to give over $100,000 to Bay Area schools.

Related: Lady Gaga's Foundation Gave Over $100K To SF Charities

Staples, the office supply chain, recently partnered with Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation and DonorsChoose.org to donate $100,966 to San Francisco teachers' projects.

ABC 7 reports that the gift is part of a $1 million Staples donation to local teachers. Apparently Gaga and Staples have teamed up to demonstrate the importance of supporting teachers and students. It's not immediately clear exactly who will get the money and for what.

According to ArtistWaves.com, "At each city the BTWF (Born This Way Foundation) is organizing or participating in a variety of events that will support their mission of engaging youth to foster kindness, improve mental wellness, and create more positive environments. Pop-up booths and various information centers will also provide information on how you can lend a hand and make a difference by spreading the power of kindness in your community, and with local organizations in partnership."

Gaga, as SFGate reminds us, will be performing her "Joanne" tour at AT&T Park on Sunday. There, concert-goers can swing by the Born This Way pop-up and share an act of kindness they've done, seen, or plan to do.

If you're not going to Lady Gaga's show and want to contribute to the Staples Kindness Tree, you may do so here. Tickets to the concert are still available, starting at $50.

Related: Lady Gaga Stops By Twitter Headquarters

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the $100,000 gift came from the Born This Way Foundation, when it fact it originated with Staples.

Former CItigroup CEO Sanford "Sandy" Weill already has one major medical school to his name: Weill Cornell Medical College. Nonetheless, he and his wife Joan Weill have turned their philanthropic eye westward, donating $185 million to UCSF for a new neuroscience research center, the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. The New York Times places the donation as the largest in UCSF's history. It's also among the most sizable contributions the Weills have ever made.

“Research on the brain, which is the most complex part of the human body, is far behind” Weill told the Times from his Sonoma estate, where he and his wife produce wine under the label Weill a Way. “We’ve always liked to support the underdog," Weill, whose net worth Forbes puts at $1.06 billion, said. The 83-year-old has taken Bill Gates' and Warren Buffet's Giving Pledge to pledge or donate most of his net worth before he dies.

And the gift comes shortly after a promised $20 million gift from the Weills to Paul Smith College in upstate New York had to be rescinded late last year, after the college's board rejected a proposal by the Weills to add Joan Weill's name to the college itself, making it Joan Weill-Paul Smith College — though the small college's campus already has a couple of buildings with the Weills's name on them.

UCSF's neuroscience research centers are already some of the best in the US, and while only three percent of UCSF's funding comes from the state — the rest comes from grants and contributions — the institution doesn't lack for funding. Just last year, the school received a $177 million donation from Charles Feeney for the Global Brain Health Institute. Neuroscience appears to be of particular interest to donors recently: The Chronicle writes that the school has received contributions of $500 million in the past year for brain research.

The $185 million Weill contribution won't do it all, of course. Much of it will go toward a new 270,000-square-foot building in Mission Bay, on which ground may break as soon as 2017. That building will cost $316 million.

“We have a chance here to break down the silos between all the different departments and really look holistically at the brain," Weill said according to the Chronicle. "Our gift unites psychiatry with all the other neurosciences departments.”

Speaking of unity, expect an annual conference between the Weill Cornell Medical College and the UCSF Weill Institute for Neuroscience.

Related: Napster Co-Founder Sean Parker Donates $250 Million (And His Name) To Presidio-Based Cancer Research Center

We're not even really sure what to make of this article on the front page of today's Chronicle. Apparently Gavin Newsom has now so given up on being able to fix the city's public housing himself that he's now thinking maybe he'll take rich people around and see if they'll donate some money to spruce it up. What is this, Swells meets Chris Daly?

We're all for philanthropy, but honestly, shouldn't the city be run on a budget where we can meet our own responsibilities without having to have rich people bail us out? Either get the tax increases to do your job or make the necessary cuts in your budget, Mayor Newsom -- this is like trustafarians running home to Mommy and Daddy when the cost of coffee goes up 15 cents at Ritual Roasters.

Side note: apparently this all got started when Newsom got upset with his staff for letting a playground donated by the Dave Matthews Band get vandalized twice. Dave Matthews should've donated a public bathroom instead.