According to a report released last week by Atlas of Giving, during 2011, Americans gave a total of nearly $347 billion to charity. This total is a  a 7.5% increase comparing to 2010.

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An anonymous donor in Miami dropped a $2000 worth diamond ring into a Salvation Army kettle last week. At noon a woman, who wishes to stay anonymous, called the office and said she had left something special in the kettle in front of Kmart.

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Jill Smokler from  Maryland is running a parenting blog on which she was asking her readers to donate through her site to help families in need, she helped raise over $18,000. This money was going towards supermarket gift cards and helped providing dinner for 378 families who couldn’t afford it otherwise.

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The New York Times reports that the upscale retailer Nordstrom is going to open a a store in NYC  with all profits from sales will go to charity.

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A new website is offering to donate $1 every day to different charities. The site, which is called Philanthroper , guarantees that 99% of your donation will arrive to the charity.

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Loren Krueger, a 94 years old farmer from a small town in Minnesota, who died last week at age of 94, had left $3 Million to different charities in his hometown, LeRoy.

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Newman’s Own Foundation awarded $1.4 million in grants during it’s “Over the Moon Celebration” and surpassed over $300 million in charitable giving. Newman’s Own was launched by Paul Newman over twenty-five years ago and is a leading premium food business. Every penny Paul earned from the sale of Newman’s Own products has been donated to thousands of charities around the world.

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Allen and Violet Large, a Canadian couple who won almost 11 millions dollars in July gave almost all of it to different charities and organizations after using a small portion to help their family.

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40 American billionaires will give at least half their fortunes to charity. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett which started this project estimate their efforts could generate $600 billion in charitable giving.

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Numerous charitable foundations reporting a considerable increase in private donations during the first half of 2010 compared to first half of 2009. The funds amongst others will be used for clean drinking water, children’s vaccines and schools in countries such as Togo and Somalia.

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