A Decade of Million Dollar Gifts

The rich keep getting richer. While they are at it, they seem to keep giving, even though it may not be as much.At least that's what, A Decade of Million-Dollar Gifts, a new report from the folks at the IUPUI Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, shows.Among other things, the report found that the number of million-dollar gifts peaked at 2,355 in 2008 and reached its lowest level -- 1,092 -- in 2003; that the combined value of million-dollar gifts peaked at nearly $61 billion in 2006 (thanks in large part to Warren Buffett's gift of approximately $33 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation); and that, following a three-year decline, the combined dollar value of such gifts reached its lowest point of the decade, roughly $10 billion, in 2010. The report also identified three patterns in the number and dollar amount of gifts:most types of recipient organizations saw the highest level in the number and dollar amount of million-dollar-plus gifts either at the beginning of the period (in 2000 or 2001) or in the middle years (2007 or 2008);giving to most types of recipient organizations experienced a decline from 2001 to 2003, and again from 2008 to 2010, years that bracket the decade's two recessions; andgiving to most types of recipient organizations rose modestly in 2011, although it was still lower, in inflation-adjusted dollar terms, of the levels seen in 2007.Find the full report and more here.