Couple Commits $100-Million to a California Hospital

How much: $100-million

Who gave it: Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce.com, a technology company in San Francisco, and his wife, Lynne

Who got it: The University of California at San Francisco Children’s Hospital

Purpose: The gift will support the construction of a new hospital facility.

Previous giving to the institution: The couple donated $1-million last year for the same purpose. They have also endowed four professorships.

The donors’ personal connection to the hospital: Ms. Benioff is a member of the board of the foundation that raises money for the hospital, and the couple’s daughter was born there.

How the gift came about: The couple was approached by university officials to give $20-million to finance a building that would house the new labor and delivery floor in the women’s hospital, says Ms. Benioff. Instead, the couple eventually chose to focus on children and give a much bigger gift after seeing the dilapidated conditions of the children’s hospital.

What makes this gift stand out: This marks the first gift of this magnitude for the Benioffs, who are in their mid-40s and worth about $1.1-billion. Ms. Benioff says they want to give away their fortune while they are young. She promises that this is only the beginning of their donating on this scale.

How the gift will be made: The Benioffs have paid $50-million now and promised to pay another $50-million over the next five years.

To see details about other big gifts made in recent weeks, go to our gifts database.