Last year, the Gates Foundation gave away about $1.36 billion. That’s a whole lot of cash, and even though I poke fun at them pretty often, they really are doing a lot of good. Yesterday, a crazy billionaire by the name of Warren Buffett, announced that he’d be giving the foundation about the same amount every year–his only catch is that he wants the money to be distributed in the same year it’s given [P-I].

Buffett’s the second richest man in the world, after Bill Gates himself, and the two have apparently been buddies for years. (The statement from the Gates references a “special friendship” with Buffett, and I will not make any jokes about swinging. But I will think them really loudly.) Buffett’s going to give them two years to ramp up their philanthropic efforts, but he expects all that money to be used up starting in 2009.

It’s really sort of an astonishing donation. He wants them to use it to deepen their commitment to the causes they’ve already started working in–particularly things like global health. I’m sure that those of us down the street from the Gates Foundation are already rubbing our hands together, trying to decide if we should bring over a fruit basket and point out our HIV trials network right across the street.

Buffett’ll also be giving a lesser amount of money to his late wife’s foundation, which funds hospitals, teachers, and Planned Parenthood groups.