To measure what donors have given or pledged over the past five years, a team of reporters spends months conducting interviews and scouring databases, news reports, and foundation filings. For consistency, we count pledges in full at the time they’re announced, discounting only those that are formally revoked. If a gift is in stock, we value it at the time it’s announced. To avoid double-counting, the survey counts gifts to foundations at the time they’re given and not when the money flows out of foundations.

Friday December 9, 2011, Bloomberg BusinessWeek. > More information