Giving Compass' Take:

• Lauren Gensler explains how Forbes evaluated the philanthropic activities of their list of wealthiest individuals, revealing that many billionaires have given little throughout their lives. 

• Anonymous donations were not included in this calculation, are anonymous donations preferable? 

• Read about the largest charitable donations of 2017. 

For the first time this year, we scored each member of The Forbes 400 list of richest Americans on how generous (or not) they are with their money. We found that a perhaps surprising number are tight-fisted, despite their financial wherewithal. Seventy-six billionaires (or nearly a fifth of our list members) earned the lowest-possible philanthropy score of one, which means they have given away less than $30 million or under 1% of their fortune in their lifetimes.

For some it is quite intentional. One plain-spoken billionaire is blunt about his disavowal of philanthropy. Ken Fisher, who founded Fisher Investments with $250 in 1979 and now manages some $96 billion in assets, says he is "not a fan of philanthropy." He's not terribly interested in volunteering his time, either, and has said that sitting on the board of a nonprofit would be "distracting." (Even still, Forbes found that he has made at least $11.5 million in donations over the years.)

Archie Aldis "Red" Emmerson, who made a fortune in timber and is the nation's third-largest landowner, has made similar comments. When his kids gave Oregon State University $6 million to build a forestry lab and name it in his honor, he quipped: "That'll take you all the way to the poor farm. Better not do it very often."

Another high-profile billionaire has been sued over his philanthropy. In 1987, President Donald Trump started the Donald J. Trump Foundation and indicated he would give away profits from his book, The Art of the Deal. However, over the next 30 years, the foundation became a vehicle for self-promotion, in which he took donations from others and distributed the money as if it were his own. In June 2018, New York's attorney general filed a lawsuitagainst Trump, seeking $2.8 million plus penalties for allegedly using the foundation as a tool for his business and his 2016 presidential run. His lawyers responded by saying the suit is politically motivated.

We acknowledge that some scores may be too low because we do not have a complete picture of a billionaire's charitable giving. While many people have long been public with their philanthropy or opted to share details of their giving with Forbes, there are others who have remained anonymous or declined to cooperate with us.

Read the full article about not-so-generous billionaires by Lauren Gensler at Forbes.