At Charity Navigator we are interested in not just how much people give away but also how efficiently they do it. The table below lists the philanthropists on the Slate 60 list who gave or pledged to one of the over 5,000 charities that Charity Navigator rates. Although not every philanthropist in the Slate 60 appears in the table below1, 33 of the 60 largest charitable givers made contributions or pledges to charities evaluated by Charity Navigator in 2005. Below are some highlights from our analysis:

Large donors generally give to efficient organizations

None of the 33 philanthropists on the list gave to a 0 star charity

Only 2 donors gave to a 1 star organization and only 6 gave to an organization with a 2 star rating

The vast majority (26 out of 33) of philanthropists gave exclusively to charities with a 3 or 4 star rating from Charity Navigator

Poverty is not a popular cause among the richest donors

Only 1 gift was made to a human service charity, the American Red Cross

Oprah Winfrey's gift to Oprah's Angel Network was the only direct contribution to an international development organization

None of the largest donations went to a social service agency, homeless shelter, food bank, or other organization that provides direct assistance to the poor

Private colleges and universities are popular charities among the rich

Of the 33 donors, 16 gave to a college or university2

Stanford University was the most popular, receiving donations or pledges from 4 different donors, followed by the University of Notre Dame which was the recipient of 2 separate gifts

Ivy League institutions are especially popular causes among the rich with Harvard, Princeton, and Penn all receiving large donations

© 2006 HealthNewsDigest.com