November 11, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
In 2006 and 2007, British philanthropists, foundations, and corporations made 193 donations worth at least £1-million, roughly $1.56-million, according to a report released this month by the Centre for Philanthropy, Humanitarianism, and Social Justice at the University of Kent.
The report is the first study of such major gifts and grants in Britain, according to the scholars who produced it. The contributions it examined totaled $2.52-billion.
About 56 percent of the donations were from people who made gifts to their foundations. For the remaining contributions that were given to charities, universities and colleges were the most popular beneficiaries, receiving 45 percent of them. Nonprofit groups that work to improve public health and provide aid to impoverished nations were the next most popular recipients.
The report says that 37 of the 193 major awards equaled exactly £1-million. Given that there are 71 billionaires in the United Kingdom, the report says the finding suggests that fund raisers have set an arbitrary “‘million pound ceiling’ as a high point beyond which most donors are not encouraged to stretch.”
