2006 Was Landmark Year for Big Donations

The 2006 giving year was remarkable not just for the landmark pledge by the investment guru Warren

ALSO SEE: Table: Biggest Gifts and Pledges Announced by Individuals in 2006

Buffett, who promised to donate more than $30-billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

At least 14 other individuals pledged more than $100-million each to single institutions last year, setting a new record in the 10 years that The Chronicle has been keeping a tally of the biggest charitable commitments announced each year. The list was started in 1997, when Ted Turner, the cable-television entrepreneur, stunned the philanthropy world by announcing he had pledged $1-billion to start a foundation that would support United Nations programs.

The number of donations of $100-million or more reached 12 in 1998, when several technology entrepreneurs and other wealthy Americans announced substantial donations. Last year, 10 donations of that size were made.

In 2006, the list was dominated by people who made their fortunes in the financial and real-estate industries rather than the technology donors who have played a big role in the lists of recent years.

Following Mr. Buffett in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots were donors who benefited from the sale of Golden West Financial Corporation to the Wachovia Corporation. Herbert M. and Marion O. Sandler, who jointly served as chief executives of the business, donated $1.3-billion from the sale to their family foundation.

Bernard A. Osher, a co-founder of the bank, put $723.2-million from the sale into his own foundation.

No. 4 on the list was Jim Joseph, a California real-estate developer, who left a $500-million bequest to his foundation, and No. 5 was David Rockefeller, the retired chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, who donated $225-million to the foundation he and his brothers created.

The beneficiaries of the biggest gifts of 2006 were mostly foundations or colleges. Nine gifts went to foundations, four to colleges and universities, and one to a hospital.

The Chronicle's list includes big pledges announced by one person to one institution, but several other notable big commitments from individuals were also made last year. Among them:

• Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, pledged $125-million to five antitobacco groups. He is also widely believed to be the donor of the $100-million gift to the Johns Hopkins University that was announced in February.

• Jerry Bisgrove, a real-estate developer in Scottsdale, Ariz., pledged $100-million through his corporate foundation to Science Foundation Arizona, an organization seeking to stimulate biotechnology research in the state.

• Robert W. Wilson, a retired hedge-fund manager, pledged a total of $146.7-million to four environmental and historic-preservation groups — as long as they raise enough money to match that sum.

The landmark commitment by Mr. Buffett, who pledged 10 million shares to the Gates Foundation over his lifetime, has grown in value since it was announced. When Mr. Buffett made the news of his donation public in June, the sum was worth slightly more than $30-billion. By the end of this week, those shares were worth $36-billion.

In addition to the Gates gift, Mr. Buffett also promised more than two million shares to family foundations. Those are now worth nearly $7.5-billion.