Press Release: http://www.cae.org/content/pdf/VSE_2009_Press_Relsease.pdf

Contributions to the Nation’s Colleges and Universities Decline in 2009
Charitable contributions to colleges and universities in the United States declined 11.9 percent, to $27.85 billion. [...]  The 2009 decline is the
steepest in the survey’s history. In 1975, however, the inflation-adjusted decline (11.6 percent) was slightly larger than in 2009 (11.5 percent). Over the past ten years, contributions to higher education institutions have increased an average of 4.1 percent per year.

The 20 institutions that raised the most in 2009 received $7.28 billion—$1.13 billion less than the top 20 institutions raised in 2008. (Note that the top 20 institutions in 2008 are not exactly the same institutions as the top 20 in 2009. The top 20 in 2009 raised $0.97 billion less than they did in 2008.) In 2009, Stanford University raised more from private donors than any other university,
followed by Harvard University and Cornell University.