What motivates some philanthropists to give significant portions of their fortunes to charitable causes? How do they decide what causes and organizations to support?

What lessons can other donors learn from them? And what should fund raisers and other charity officials understand as they seek to encourage more people to give in this difficult economic time?

To answer these questions, The Chronicle and Bolder Giving, an organization that works to encourage philanthropists to give more generously, have developed a series of live online discussions with some of the nation's most interesting philanthropists.

Read the transcript of our discussion with two donors - Karen Ansara and Anne Ellinger - who answered questions about their giving philosophies.

Click on the window below to view the replay of this archived discussion.

Click on the window below to view the replay of this archived discussion.