Twenty donors made gifts of $100-million or more last year, just shy of the record of 21 such gifts made in 2006, according to The Chronicle’s annual ranking of the 50 most-generous Americans.

And despite a turbulent economy, fund raisers seeking donations of $10-million or more predict another strong year of big gifts in 2008.

“All our indicators are very positive,” says Jeffrey L. Newton, vice president for resource development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge. “I’m very optimistic we will continue this trend.”

Last year the university received pledges from two donors on the list, $100-million from the businessman David H. Koch (No. 14 on The Chronicle’s list) and $31-million from Irwin M. Jacobs, a telecommunications entrepreneur, and his wife, Joan (tied for No. 40).

Led by William Barron Hilton’s pledge of $1.2-billion to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, in Reno, Nev., donors on the list committed $7.3-billion to charity last year. In 2006, donors made gifts of $6.6-billion, not including Warren E. Buffett’s $43.5-billion in donations.

read the rest published by Chronicle of Philantropy here:

http://www.philanthropy.com/free/articles/v20/i07/07000601.htm

and the whole list published here:

 http://www.philanthropy.com/topdonors/gifts.php?view=topdonors&year=2007

 

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