The Rich and the Responsible

In a noble effort to make giving money away as competitive among the rich as making it, the online magazine Slate, with the assistance of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, releases the "The Slate 60", which is an annual list of "60 largest American charitable contributions of the year." To read more about the just-released 2006 list click here and here. Here are the highlights:

• Warren Buffett’s $43.5 billion pledge in 2006 nearly equals the total donations recorded in the Slate 60 for the previous six years combined.
• Not counting the huge amount given by the Oracle of Omaha, 2006 was still a record year—with total contributions equaling $7 billion, almost double the $4.3 billion given in 2005.
• The biggest winners by far were colleges and universities, which received 34 gifts, and the biggest winner among colleges and universities was Stanford, which received 7 donations, more than any other charity on the list. Hopefully, some of that money will go towards scholarships for underprivileged students.
• Groups serving children and youth did not fare as well as colleges and universities—only 2 received gifts from the top donors.
• To almost no one’s surprise, Oprah Winfrey was on the list again this year for her gifts to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation and Oprah’s Angel Network among other groups.
• To my surprise, Hawaii Five-0 star Jack Lord posthumously made the list with the donation of his and his wife Marie’s entire estate to the Hawaii Community Foundation. No word on whether or not Danno plans to do the same.