Annual Giving Index

Princeton just released its latest Annual Giving numbers. Participation was at an all-time high with three-fourths of the Class of 2007 making a contribution. But besides breaking records and exceeding expectations, are there other compelling reasons to give so much money to an already extremely wealthy institution? Here are some figures to put Annual Giving in perspective (with apologies to Harper's Index):

$54.1 million ................Total Contributions, 2007-2008 Annual Giving
6 .....................................Number of countries with smaller GDPs
$15.5 million.................Greenpeace's 2006 total expenses
$48.8 million.................The Heritage Foundation's 2007 total expenditures
33,658 ..........................Number of undergraduate alumni who participated
$1607.62 ......................Average amount donated per person
36..............................Number of countries with less GDP per capita
4 ..........................Number of poultry entrepreneurs in Uganda the average donation funds
13...............................Number of goats this amount can buy for rural families worldwide