From the Philanthropy 400: Who Got the Most Million-Dollar Gifts

By Drew Lindsay and Peter Olsen-Phillips

The Smithsonian Institution received 72 gifts of $1 million or more in 2016. De Agostini/Getty Images

November 1, 2017 | Read Time: 5 minutes

Among the more than 290 organizations that completed a survey for The Chronicle’s Philanthropy 400 ranking, these nonprofits received at least one gift of $1 million or more. Contributions came in the form of cash, stock, and donated goods and services.

Philanthropy 400 Rank	Organization	2016 Private Support	No. of Gifts of $1 Million or More
8	National Christian Foundation	$1,532,256,000	194
15	Food for the Poor	$987,609,386	179
14	National Philanthropic Trust	$1,006,225,727	164
30	Johns Hopkins University	$657,292,634	163
11	Harvard University	$1,187,530,292	137
29	University of Southern California	$666,640,686	127
39	Patient Access Network Foundation	$582,541,219	112
9	Silicon Valley Community Foundation	$1,383,888,000	110
55	University of Chicago	$443,304,691	102
53	Partners HealthCare System	$461,048,062	91
18	Americares Foundation	$914,386,527	87
119	Dartmouth College	$227,037,580	85
33	University of California at San Francisco	$595,940,070	83
45	University of Washington	$541,444,150	79
125	University of Nebraska	$214,458,958	74
111	University of Florida	$243,666,490	73
72	University of Minnesota	$345,640,311	72
101	Smithsonian Institution	$269,878,400	72
50	Foundation for the Carolinas	$498,065,318	70
56	Jewish Communal Fund	$434,991,130	70
54	Greater Kansas City Community Foundation	$454,902,282	69
21	American Endowment Foundation	$824,956,056	67
57	University of Michigan	$433,775,518	65
41	United States Fund for Unicef	$566,169,095	60
103	Princeton University	$267,875,832	55
183	Purdue University at West Lafayette	$151,217,052	55
61	Ohio State University	$386,111,783	52
100	Tides Foundation	$270,080,343	51
102	Washington University in St. Louis	$269,876,662	51
58	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$419,752,498	50
79	Renaissance Charitable Foundation	$320,461,078	49
197	University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center	$140,314,035	47
208	University of Oregon	$136,295,416	46
200	Rutgers University	$139,404,453	44
127	Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston	$212,497,879	42
65	Catholic Medical Mission Board	$361,088,161	41
336	United Nations Foundation	$85,719,236	40
113	Metropolitan Museum of Art	$241,896,154	39
167	University of Kentucky	$163,918,841	39
71	University of Texas at Austin	$345,991,576	38
291	Southern Methodist University	$98,112,842	38
17	Habitat for Humanity International	$950,000,000	37
77	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	$323,202,582	36
144	Emory University	$192,699,880	36
64	CARE	$364,936,079	35
201	HealthWell Foundation	$139,091,107	35
106	Shriners Hospitals for Children	$265,292,000	33
169	Greater Houston Community Foundation	$161,495,240	32
343	Foundation for the National Institutes of Health	$82,860,385	32
110	University of Virginia	$245,391,966	31
151	California Institute of Technology	$182,869,435	31
175	Boston University	$156,940,557	31
126	Mount Sinai Health System	$213,570,194	30
237	Omaha Community Foundation	$120,575,054	30
216	North Carolina State University	$129,948,405	29
107	American Civil Liberties Union Foundation	$260,670,199	28
154	Scholarship America	$180,332,512	28
368	Partners in Health	$77,347,532	28
67	Indiana University	$360,935,740	27
NA	Tufts University	$60,405,193	27
68	Doctors Without Borders USA	$357,438,744	26
240	Energy Foundation	$118,765,052	26
272	Boston Foundation	$104,152,103	26
211	Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles	$133,819,000	25
NA	Wayne State University	$60,708,068	25
2	United Way Worldwide	$3,539,672,346	24
7	Salvation Army	$1,882,744,000	24
174	Oregon Health & Science University	$156,960,646	24
223	Natural Resources Defense Council	$127,288,608	23
255	Charities Aid Foundation America	$112,581,139	23
258	Northwell Health Foundation	$110,501,249	23
286	Tulane University	$98,919,435	23
NA	American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science	$66,982,000	23
224	University of Pittsburgh	$127,154,544	22
279	George Washington University	$101,391,196	22
115	University of Miami	$236,333,647	21
194	Vanderbilt University	$143,605,153	21
271	Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego	$104,563,602	21
324	World Resources Institute	$89,407,957	21
179	Carnegie Mellon University	$155,301,691	20
253	University of Missouri at Columbia	$113,079,422	20
299	Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan	$95,414,399	20
321	Syracuse University	$90,318,891	20
339	University of Louisville	$85,186,036	20
27	Pew Charitable Trusts	$694,860,174	19
82	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	$317,925,589	19
109	American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee	$248,823,471	19
264	DonorsChoose.org	$107,473,914	19
311	San Francisco Museum of Modern Art	$92,615,271	19
391	Sierra Club Foundation	$71,884,506	19
257	Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta	$110,532,305	18
267	Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties	$105,723,622	18
277	Rice University	$102,976,608	18
337	Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation and Guild Association	$85,356,449	18
374	Orange County Community Foundation	$76,495,203	18
NA	Whitney Museum of American Art	$62,413,000	18
NA	Year Up	$58,394,374	17
209	Arizona Community Foundation	$135,020,819	16
261	Community Foundation of New Jersey	$108,166,134	16
265	University of Rochester	$107,296,610	16
91	Leukemia & Lymphoma Society	$285,638,088	15
130	University of California at San Diego	$206,872,666	15
310	Communities Foundation of Texas	$93,124,017	15
108	Oregon Community Foundation	$255,172,559	14
155	World Wildlife Fund	$179,472,620	14
326	Brookings Institution	$88,980,308	14
338	United Jewish Foundation and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit	$85,277,849	14
359	Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation	$78,665,749	14
NA	Villanova University	$61,468,303	14
NA	Cedars-Sinai Medical Center	$57,433,551	14
NA	Minneapolis Foundation	$53,341,705	14
23	World Vision	$786,014,143	13
94	Carter Center	$281,438,007	13
97	Texas A&M University	$276,474,802	13
275	American Society for Technion-Israel Institute of Technology	$103,294,031	13
280	Project Hope/People-to-People Health Foundation	$101,377,931	13
327	Wake Forest University	$88,787,470	13
NA	Virginia Commonwealth University	$69,180,321	13
NA	George Mason University	$67,940,425	13
98	Alzheimer’s Association	$271,563,777	12
147	University of Kansas	$187,214,140	12
199	City of Hope	$139,718,944	12
262	Girl Scouts of the USA	$107,894,760	12
399	Mississippi State University	$69,763,343	12
NA	Community Foundation for Northeast Florida	$62,200,537	12
NA	Human Rights Watch	$57,620,234	12
5	Feeding America	$2,375,635,807	11
28	American Heart Association	$683,171,667	11
114	International Rescue Committee	$237,239,596	11
160	Humane Society of the United States	$174,583,075	11
203	California Community Foundation	$138,352,000	11
234	North Texas Food Bank	$121,737,163	11
315	Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America	$91,781,322	11
NA	Lehigh University	$63,678,306	11
NA	Temple University	$62,253,662	11
112	Special Olympics	$241,966,662	10
212	Mercy Corps	$132,846,542	10
248	U.S. Charitable Gift Trust	$115,992,451	10
304	Birthright Israel Foundation	$94,141,871	10
341	National Academy of Sciences	$83,281,291	10
NA	International Aid	$64,496,573	10
NA	Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation	$59,770,587	10
NA	Museum of Fine Arts, Houston	$53,204,501	10
241	Ducks Unlimited	$118,690,925	9
245	Local Initiatives Support Corporation	$116,294,012	9
289	Rochester Area Community Foundation	$98,668,622	9
302	Henry Ford Health System	$94,404,607	9
325	Conservation Fund	$89,368,230	9
344	Aspen Institute	$82,854,468	9
373	University of Arkansas at Fayetteville	$76,693,395	9
13	The Y	$1,040,952,000	8
195	Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago	$141,186,844	8
214	First Book	$130,822,918	8
231	New York Community Trust	$124,123,171	8
350	San Diego State University	$79,780,852	8
362	Dayton Foundation	$78,192,419	8
372	State University of New York at Stony Brook	$76,704,325	8
NA	Rhode Island Foundation	$59,969,221	8
NA	New York Public Library	$56,603,843	8
NA	Children’s Hospital Los Angeles	$54,667,684	8
NA	Ipas	$29,967,830	8
NA	National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention	$29,169,979	8
149	Wycliffe Bible Translators	$186,084,000	7
250	United Service Organizations	$114,964,688	7
254	Dignity Health	$112,807,000	7
309	Patient Services	$93,351,315	7
NA	San Diego Zoo	$65,747,541	7
NA	Jewish National Fund	$62,700,627	7
NA	Hospital for Special Surgery	$46,901,978	7
69	Catholic Relief Services	$354,786,789	6
143	Susan G. Komen	$192,956,670	6
252	Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research	$113,936,698	6
354	Heritage Foundation	$79,079,189	6
356	Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation	$78,827,657	6
357	Oxfam America	$78,818,402	6
376	Heart to Heart International	$75,736,454	6
NA	Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America	$67,446,251	6
NA	Denver Foundation	$52,279,334	6
NA	ClimateWorks Foundation	$49,793,259	6
87	Wounded Warrior Project	$302,707,725	5
136	American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals	$197,064,307	5
219	University of California at Davis	$129,223,868	5
334	WNET	$86,362,115	5
NA	National Wildlife Federation	$62,036,863	5
25	Direct Relief	$776,101,561	4
47	Cru	$509,955,216	4
74	Save the Children	$343,702,250	4
95	Young Life	$278,137,336	4
246	Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties	$116,184,330	4
365	Mercy Ships	$77,807,654	4
393	National Audubon Society	$71,329,108	4
NA	American Jewish World Service	$68,587,770	4
NA	Pittsburgh Foundation	$37,047,970	4
152	Helen Keller International	$181,625,115	3
230	American Diabetes Association	$124,596,288	3
319	Billy Graham Evangelistic Association	$91,137,190	3
363	Wikimedia Foundation	$78,151,457	3
NA	Breast Cancer Research Foundation	$66,003,474	3
NA	Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens	$43,004,458	3
NA	Cleveland Foundation	$36,875,729	3
NA	Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham	$19,900,427	3
105	Rotary Foundation of Rotary International	$265,667,546	2
134	University of Utah	$201,854,380	2
193	Volunteers of America	$144,544,117	2
204	St. Mary’s Food Bank	$138,177,954	2
236	City Harvest	$121,261,698	2
352	Harvesters-the Community Food Network	$79,671,141	2
NA	Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association	$59,646,328	2
NA	Children’s Hunger Fund	$47,856,603	2
NA	Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute	$46,349,337	2
34	Compassion International	$592,465,017	1
90	Population Services International	$289,451,122	1
99	Marine Toys for Tots Foundation	$271,099,584	1
124	Project Orbis International	$214,631,000	1
140	Program for Appropriate Technology in Health	$195,136,000	1
150	Houston Food Bank	$185,653,785	1
202	Midwest Food Bank	$139,084,112	1
217	International Fellowship of Christians and Jews	$129,817,844	1
260	Medical Teams International	$108,954,031	1
266	American Lung Association	$107,244,649	1
292	Atlanta Community Food Bank	$97,205,931	1
355	InterVarsity Christian Fellowship	$78,950,374	1
NA	Maryland Food Bank	$57,728,641	1
NA	Community Foundation for Greater New Haven	$47,170,015	1
NA	Plan International USA	$37,562,749	1