The 2010 Slate 60
The largest American charitable contributions of the past year.
Gates and Buffett's Giving Pledge didn't specify how people should give, just that they should. Tech entrepreneurs like Pierre and Pam Omidyar, perennials on the list, have tried enterprising donations, founding HopeLab to attempt to improve kids' health through technology. Zuckerberg's gift is unusual for reaching out to a public school system. If more and more of the Forbes 400 decide to join him, the next 15 years of the Slate 60 could look very different indeed. There's the quantitative measure: Fortune estimates that if all members of that list take the Giving Pledge, it could force a whopping $600 billion to nonprofit groups. But there's also a qualitative one: What if Buffett and Gates decide to push for better giving, not just more? Those sobering inequality numbers might not change—but who knows what could.
Click here to read a slide show of the top charitable donors of 2010.
Once again, Slate has partnered with the Chronicle of Philanthropy on this project. Special thanks go to Maria Di Mento, who compiled the list with help from Caroline Bermudez, Caroline Preston, Heather Joslyn and Sue LaLumia.
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Annie Lowrey, formerly Slate’s Moneybox columnist, is economic policy reporter for the New York Times.
Slate's Jenny Livengood, Elizabeth Weingarten, Rebecca Rothfeld, and Angela Tchou assisted on the photo research. For a complete list of photo credits, click spacerhereyeshyperlinkPhotographs of: the Ackmans by Pershing Square Capital Management; Lin Arison by the Knight Foundation; Michael Armstrong by Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images; the Atksinsons by Jason Koski/University Photography; Marc Benioff by Robert Scoble/Flickr; Leonard Blavatnik by Eggman64/Wikimedia; Eli and Edythe Broad by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for MOCA; Frances Lasker Brody by American Friends of Tel Aviv University; the Calcagninis by Georgetown University; Iris Cantor by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Bion Cram by Fryeburg Academy; John Dyson by Robert Barker/Cornell University Photography; the Friedmans by Mount Sinai Medical Center; the Grands by American Technion Society; Norton Herrick by Jemal Countess/Getty Images; Ming Hsieh from USC; Charles Kaufman by the Pittsburgh Foundation; David Koch by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images; the Lanes by Chazen Museum of Art; Bennett LeBow by Drexel University; the Luskins by Reed Hutchinson/UCLA; the Lynches by Boston College; John Malone by Getty Images; Mary McKinney by University of Texas at San Antonio; the Merrins by David Gordon for Tufts University; the Pegulas by Andy Colwell/Penn State Live 2010; Boone Pickens by Alex Wong/Getty Images; the Prince family by Rhode Island Hospital; the Roches by Boston College; Paul Soros by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images; Paul Terasaki by Leslie Barton/UCLA; the Vagelos by Getty Images. Juanita Waugh courtesy the Mayo Clinic; George Weiss by the University of Pennsylvania; the Woodses by The Lawrenceville School; Anne Ziff by Christopher Miggels; Mark Zuckerberg by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; 10000false220112725642PMMondayFebFebruary142/7/2011 7:56:42 PM63432687402000000020112725642PMMondayFebFebruary142/7/2011 7:56:42 PM634326874020000000.