The economy is strong enough that people are giving in a large way.

The economy is always the most important thing in terms of fundraising,

These are people who otherwise don't get a lot of attention for their giving, or anything else, have a lot of money and are using it philanthropically. One of the challenges of compiling the list is that a lot of people don't want to talk about it.

I really think the biggest reason has got to be people seeing government agencies not doing the right thing, ... and that drove them to support a private response and do it quickly by sending it online.

The Internet definitely helped tsunami giving. It may make people more comfortable with online giving in the future.

It seems to be a phenomenal year. Donor fatigue is something not many charities are seeing.

A lot of nonprofits have been very aggressive about letting people know that everyone has some assets they can leave. And it's paying off.

This is a big giving time of the year when a lot of donors are making decisions about where their charitable donations will go, and now they might wonder whether their contributions were well-used.

As people see the extent of the damage, they're likely to keep giving in big ways.

a very remarkable outpouring, but compared to the amount of need . . . there's still a fund-raising challenge ahead.