The size of the top 50 largest US donations dropped 7.2% last year to $69.3m from the previous year, although the number of bequests making up the top 50 largest philanthropic gifts nearly doubled.

Of the 50 donors, 13 were bequests compared to four on the 2007 list, and four of the top five donations in 2008 were bequests. In 2007 all five of the biggest donors were living, according to a report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a weekly newspaper.