The richest Americans are not all that generous

Posted by Kristi Heim

Only 4 percent of the 400 wealthiest Americans listed by Forbes
magazine were among the top 50 donors in the country, according to a
tally of the nation's leading philanthropists in 2009.

Those top 50 donors gave a total of $4.1 billion to charity in 2009,
according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which compiles the list
every year.

While it's separate from the Forbes richest list, said the Chronicle's
Cynthia Powell, "when we cross compared that with who has the most
money, we were just struck by the fact that of the 400 richest
Americans, only 17 are giving a lot of money away."

The other most generous Americans were not wealthy enough to make the
Forbes list but showed a greater ambition to use their money toward
solving social problems, along with a more creative approach, she
said.

Here is the Chronicle's list of the top 50 donors.

One obvious question is where are the other 383 richest Americans, the
remaining 96 percent, when it comes to philanthropy? Here is the
Forbes richest list.

Generosity took a hit along with diminished portfolios in the
recession. In 2009, the top donors gave only about a quarter of the
money they gave in the previous year. In 2008, the top 50 gifts
totaled $15.5 billion.

The top 10 donors in 2009 we

1. Stanley and Fiona Druckenmiller $705 million to the Druckenmiller
Foundation
2. John M. Templeton (Bequest) $573 million to the Templeton
Foundation
3. Bill and Melinda Gates, $350 million to the Gates Foundation
4. Michael R. Bloomberg, $254 million to 1,358 groups
5. Louise Nippert, $185 million to the Greenacres Foundation
6. George Soros, $150 million for Fund for Policy Reform and Central
Europe Univ
7. Eli and Edythe L. Broad, $105.2 million to the Broad Foundations
8. J. Ronald and Frances Terwilliger, $102 million to Habitat for
Humanity and others
9. William P. Clements Jr., $100 million to Southwestern Medical
Foundation
10. Pierre and Pam Omidyar, $92 million to Hawaii Community Foundation
and others

(Paul Allen was #11 with $85 million, the only other local donor I
could find on the list).

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