As John D. Rockefeller's wealth has grown,…

As John D. Rockefeller's wealth has grown, so has his giving, primarily to educational and public health causes, but also for basic science and the arts.

He has been advised primarily by Frederick Taylor Gates since 1892, and, after 1897, also by his son.

Rockefeller believes in the Efficiency Movement, arguing that: "To help an inefficient, ill-located, unnecessary school is a waste ... it is highly probable that enough money has been squandered on unwise educational projects to have built up a national system of higher education adequate to our needs, if the money had been properly directed to that end." (Rockefeller, John D. (1984) [1909]. Random Reminiscences of Men and Events. p. 69. New York: Sleepy Hollow Press and Rockefeller Archive Center.)

Rockefeller and his advisers invented the conditional grant, which required the recipient to "root the institution in the affections of as many people as possible who, as contributors, become personally concerned, and thereafter may be counted on to give to the institution their watchful interest and cooperation". (Rockefeller 1984, p. 183.)