Sixteen of the 50 U.S. philanthropists in Business Week’s (US) annual list of Most Generous Givers gave over $100m this year, nine donated $200m or more, and one gave $723m in gifts.

Some of the more well known philanthropists in the list, such as Bill and Melinda Gates and George Soros, continue to donate large amounts abroad to support global causes.

However, the list indicates that the recipients of most of the new nine-digit donations this year are American institutions either near the givers' homes or closely tied to their personal experience.

Donors appear to want to stay close to their money too, by demanding a high level of involvement to ensure that the fortunes they worked hard to make will be used effectively to alleviate the problems they consider most urgent.

An example is Jon Huntsman, who gave the largest new gift on the list. Most of his giving goes to cancer research; in July he gave over $700m to the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah, where he lives. His son is the state's Governor.

He says three-quarters of his lifetime giving will be focused in Utah and having battled cancer three times and losing his mother, stepmother, and father to the disease the choice of cancer research is also personal.

Read more on the Business Week website.