Gates Foundation gets $10.4 mn in donations

SEATTLE: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's annual report says it brought in $10.4 million in individual donations in 2008, without making an effort at fundraising.

That dollar amount does not include new money from Bill or Melinda Gates or their friend Warren Buffett, who gave the world's richest foundation's trust about $1.8 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock last year.

The foundation had an endowment totaling $27.5 billion as of April 1.

It began accepting individual donations in 2007. At that time, a foundation spokeswoman said Bill and Melinda Gates decided it wasn't right to say ``yes'' to Buffett and ``no'' to everyone else who wanted to support the work of the foundation.