Charity givers are being forced to make difficult choices as the recession continues. While our Giving List shows that philanthropists have not taken flight from good causes, there will be casualties as the wealthy consider more carefully where to direct their funds.

Karin Jestin, head of philanthropy with the private Swiss bank Lombard Odier, believes a shift in focus is inevitable, with less money likely to go to arts and cultural causes, and more to those addressing human and social needs. “There are reasons to be hopeful,” she says. “We have seen prominent donors saying that in these difficult times they feel an obligation to give more because there are more people suffering.”

A survey published by the Charity Commission last month reported that 30% of voluntary organisations had already seen a drop in their income, with more than half saying the recession had affected their operations. The appointment by the government of Dame Stephanie Shirley as the country’s first philanthropy ambassador this week is aimed at preserving charity income.

Humanitarian causes in Africa should be among those most resistant to the recession. Ark (Absolute Return for Kids), founded by the financier Arpad Busson, is partnering the Clinton Foundation on an HIV/Aids initiative in Mozambique and has also helped tens of thousands of children in South Africa.

Busson set up his London-based charity in 2002 and has used his financial prowess and high-profile friends to raise millions for projects connected with education and children in care as well as HIV/Aids. The annual Ark ball, held last year at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, raised £25m. Tony Blair was the special guest. This year Busson and his fiancée, Uma Thurman, will be hosting the ball at the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo.

In Britain, Ark sponsors six academy schools in deprived urban areas. This year’s Giving List suggests education could benefit from any reappraisal by philanthropists.

Cambridge and Oxford universities are campaigning to raise £1 billion and £1.25 billion respectively. At Cambridge, New Hall College has been renamed Murray Edwards College in honour of its first president, Rosemary Murray, and Ros Edwards, an alumna. Edwards and her husband, Steve, gave £30m to the college, to be used partly to provide bursaries for students from low-income families.

The couple, pictured below, made their fortune from the software company Geneva Technology. “We all give what we can to charities but we don't think so readily about giving something back for the education we've received, which helps us to succeed in life,” Edwards says.

Michael Moritz, of venture capitalist Sequoia Capital, donated £25m to his alma mater, Christ Church, Oxford, thanking the university and college for providing the “compass to life”.

Giving levels inevitably will be lower from those philanthropists who kept the money earmarked for charitable spending within their main business. Sir Tom Hunter is the prime example. Two years after he committed to give £1 billion to charity, he is no longer in the Rich List.

“It’s been a tough year,” says Ewan Hunter, chief executive of the Hunter Foundation. “We have lost a significant sum of money so we will be investing less. We will honour all our commitments but have had to take tough decisions about where our priorities lie.”

The foundation’s aim is to reduce Third World poverty through enterprise and education. Ewan Hunter says of Sir Tom’s pledge: “That commitment remains; it will just take him a bit longer to achieve it. His humour remains intact. Tom says he knew he was going to give all his money away, he just didn't realise he was going to give quite so much to the banks.”