Wealthiest Donors Gave 9 Percent of Their Income in 2007, Study Finds

Patrick Rooney, interim executive director of Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, suggested that the economic downturn may have hit the very wealthiest donors before other Americans.

“In 2007, the economy hadn’t collapsed the way it has now, but we were beginning to see some fraying around the edges,” he said. “That may have had a bigger impact on some of the high-net-worth households in a bigger way, and sooner, than it did on the overall economy.”