Hans Peter Schmitz – The Conversation

Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, one of the top 50 donors of 2025, talks with his son Josh Blank. Kara Durrette/Getty Images

March 10, 2026

Gifts from top 50 US philanthropists jumped to $22.4B in 2025 − Mike Bloomberg, Bill Gates and the estate of Paul Allen lead a list of the biggest givers

David Campbell, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Hans Peter Schmitz, North Carolina State University, and Lindsey McDougle, Rutgers University - Newark

Three philanthropy scholars size up the latest data on gifts from the country’s biggest philanthropists.

Mitchell Rales and Emily Wei Rales signed the Giving Pledge in 2018. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

May 6, 2022

What’s the Giving Pledge? A philanthropy scholar explains

Hans Peter Schmitz, University of San Diego

More than 350 billionaires have signed on so far.

Spanx founder Sara Blakely has signed the Giving Pledge. Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images for Massachusetts Conference for Women

June 5, 2020

A window into the hearts and minds of billionaire donors

Hans Peter Schmitz, University of San Diego

A careful review of more than 200 letters written by the wealthy people who signed the Giving Pledge over its first decade suggests a big contradiction.

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