Credit Suisse, the Swiss private bank, is holding its inaugural Philanthropy Campus, which aims to educate the ultra rich on the basics of charitable giving, from 20 to 23 September 2011.

The global program is in collaboration with the George H Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies. It will be held at NYU's Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for University Life.

The Philanthropy Campus is designed to educate private banking clients worldwide with the necessary know-how to advance an existing philanthropic endeavor or start a new one, the bank said in a statement. The curriculum will cover subjects such as ethical behavior, technology, strategic goal-setting, accountability and changing regulations that affect traditional giving and social investing. 

"Philanthropy and fundraising are critical to the way civil society functions in the US. Other countries are beginning to recognize its importance and the relevance of the American model to their own increasing needs for non-government support," said Naomi Levine, the founder and executive director of the Heyman Center. 

The four-day event will feature keynote speakers including John Sexton, president of New York University, Jeff Raikes, chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Right Honorable Sir John Major, former UK prime minister and senior advisor to Credit Suisse, and other NYU faculty members and philanthropy experts. Also scheduled are visits to world-renowned institutions in the city, including the Rubian Musuem of Art and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.