The Brand Clinton Created

The impact of the Clinton brand has been increased considerably by its institutionalisation in the Clinton Foundation. Despite its name, this is really a non-governmental organisation, not a classic grant-making foundation, though there are plans to raise an endowment. It takes to a new level the post-presidential activism pioneered by Jimmy Carter—though the Carter brand occupies a specialist niche by comparison with the Clinton brand's mass-market appeal. Founded in 1997 to oversee the building of the Clinton Presidential Library, the foundation is now a global organisation that both runs programmes in areas such as fighting HIV/AIDS, poverty and climate change, and also helps other philanthropists develop programmes of their own.

Mr Clinton has not reinvented philanthropy, as some claim, but he does espouse a businesslike approach to giving money that is now fashionable among the new rich. He calls these philanthropists “bleeding-heart cheapskates”: they are “not naive, they don't want to waste a lot of money, they like low administrative overhead, they measure pretty ruthlessly for return.”

Mr Clinton's greatest success so far has been cutting the price of anti-retroviral drugs for AIDS victims in poor countries. This involved negotiating bulk-purchase agreements with generic drugmakers. Although critics say that an arrangement of this sort was on the cards before Mr Clinton got involved, at the very least he accelerated it, benefiting many people. Now he is trying to repeat this trick to mitigate climate change by co-ordinating bulk-purchase agreements between the governments of some of the world's biggest cities and makers of low-energy products.

Partnership is the essence of brand Clinton. Anti-retrovirals are supplied to poor children jointly with the Children's Investment Fund Foundation of Chris Hohn, a hedge-fund boss. In 2006 the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative to promote sustainable growth in Africa launched with $100m from Sir Tom Hunter, a British billionaire. This year brought the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative to create alternative jobs in mining communities: $100m from Frank Giustra, a mining mogul, inspired matching sums from Lukas Lundin and Carlos Slim of Mexico, the world's richest man. “This ought to be a multi-billion-dollar effort,” says Mr Clinton. “Twenty-four other mining firms want to contribute, so this could get very big in a hurry.”

The CGI, a sort of “Philanthropy Oscars” launched in 2005, is Mr Clinton's annual pulpit to evangelise a philanthropic boom that he says is still only in its early stages. The CGI's 1,000 participants—65% from business—must pledge some good work, which they must accomplish or show progress towards, if they are to be invited back. Most honour their pledges, Mr Clinton insists, though it is hard to be sure since there is no naming and shaming. He says that 14 people were not allowed back last year.

-How Bill Clinton became a leading brand in the giving industry