philanthropy

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Melinda French Gates Branches Out With a $250M Gift

Her foundation will be granting that much to support women's health around the world

(Newser) - Melinda French Gates will grant $250 million to support women's health around the world through an open call for nonprofits to apply for funding. The pledge announced Wednesday signals a new chapter in her individual philanthropic giving since departing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this year...

Dolly Parton to Helene Victims: 'I Am Part of You'

Country star, 78, donates $1M toward relief efforts in wake of deadly hurricane

(Newser) - As regions hit hard by Hurricane Helene continue to deal with the aftermath, a big name from Appalachia has stepped up to help. On Friday, country star Dolly Parton announced she'll be donating $1 million out of her own pocket toward relief efforts, via the nonprofit Mountain Ways, reports...

Swift Joins UK Fight on Hunger With 'Unexpected' Donation

Pop star's 'generous' gift is going toward 1.4K food banks, community groups in United Kingdom

(Newser) - Taylor Swift has long been hailed for making an impact on local economies , but she's been helping out locally in more direct ways, too. The Independent reports that the 34-year-old pop star made an "unexpected" donation to 1,400 or so food banks run by the Trussell Trust,...

Alice Walton Makes a Massive Giveaway

$249M gift to fund a medical school in Arkansas

(Newser) - Alice Walton reclaimed her spot as the world's richest woman even after opening her wallet in a big way. The Walmart heiress, who sits in the 18th spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a $100 billion estimated net worth, gave out $390 million in the year ending Sept....

Warren Buffett's Plan for $144B Fortune When He Dies

Howard, Susie, and Peter Buffett will have 10 years to give away money left by dad after he passes

(Newser) - The next generation of Buffetts—Howard, Susie, and Peter—is poised to become one of the most powerful forces in philanthropy when their 94-year-old father, the legendary businessman and leader of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, eventually passes away. But it wasn't always going to be that way. Buffett announced...

Gallery Donor Gets Last Word, Two Years After Death

Lord John Sainsbury's hidden note objecting to architectural design is found

(Newser) - A strange story has emerged out of London's National Gallery involving a billionaire donor and his posthumous objections to the design of a wing he funded. The billionaire is Lord John Sainsbury, a grocery store magnate who gave tens of millions of dollars to the museum to build what...

50 People Just Gave Away This Heiress's $27M

Marlene Engelhorn's fortune will go to 77 groups, including one centered on tax justice

(Newser) - A council of 50 randomly selected Austrians have come to a decision on how to spend a 32-year-old heiress's fortune—without any input from the heiress herself. Earlier this year, Marlene Engelhorn, a descendant of the founder of chemical firm BASF who's criticized inherited wealth as "contradicting...

Billionaire Altman Makes Philanthropy Pledge

OpenAI CEO adds his name to the Giving Pledge

(Newser) - The Giving Pledge announced Tuesday that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has joined its list of wealthy philanthropists committed to donating over half their fortunes, per the AP . The move comes after a tumultuous six months for Altman , the co-founder of the San Francisco-based company behind ChatGPT and a venture capitalist...

French Gates Is Throwing Serious Cash at Women's Rights

Will donate $1B, doesn't want her granddaughter growing up 'with fewer rights than I had'

(Newser) - Melinda French Gates is opening up her checkbook to the tune of $1 billion over the next two years, and it's going toward "people and organizations working on behalf of women and families around the world, including on reproductive rights in the United States," she writes...

Climate Group 'Awestruck' by Mystery $10M Donation

The money went to Giving Green, a philanthropic organization that gives money to nonprofits

(Newser) - On a Friday morning in April, Dan Stein, the founder of Giving Green, a climate philanthropy organization, found some big news in a surprising email. An anonymous donor had given his fund $10 million. "I didn't quite process the number of zeros," Stein said, adding he was...

College Grads Receive a Big Gift, With a 'Catch'

UMass Dartmouth students get $1K each from billionaire Robert Hale, but they have to donate half

(Newser) - Students threw their graduation caps into the air at UMass Dartmouth this week, and they were on the receiving end of quite a surprise during what the college calls an "unforgettable ceremony." CBS News reports that Boston Celtics co-owner Robert Hale served as commencement speaker on Thursday, and...

MacKenzie Scott Drops Another Philanthropy Bomb

$640M, more than double her initial plan, goes to nonprofit applicants

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and author, had promised to give $1 million each to 250 organizations last year through an "open call" for applications. She apparently changed her mind. On Tuesday, she announced she would give $640 million to 361 organizations instead, reports the AP . That makes her...

In 2023, No American Gave More to Charity Than This Man
In 2023, No American Gave
More to Charity Than This Man
in case you missed it
Mar 9, 2024 4:25 PM CST

In 2023, No American Gave More to Charity Than This Man

Michael Bloomberg tops the Chronicle of Philanthropy's biggest donors list

(Newser) - Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg contributed $3 billion to support the arts, education, environment, public health, and programs aimed at improving city governments around the world in 2023, putting him atop the Chronicle of Philanthropy's exclusive list of the 50 Americans who donated the largest sums to nonprofits last...

Elon Musk Does Not Like MacKenzie Scott's Billions to Charity

Calls fellow billionaire's charitable giving among the reasons 'that Western Civilization died'

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott has become a power player in philanthropic circles, donating billions to charity since her split with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019. That charitable giving, however, has apparently attracted the ire of a fellow billionaire: X owner Elon Musk, who had words for Scott on his social media...

$1B Donation to Cover Med School Tuition for All

Ruth Gottesman wants graduates to begin careers free of debt

(Newser) - A former professor at a New York City medical school has given it $1 billion, saying the money should be used to cover tuition for all future students. Ruth Gottesman, 93, studied learning disabilities and operated literacy programs at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, the New ...

Warren Buffett's Pocket-Emptying Earns Him a New Honor

He's No. 1 in 'Chronicle of Philanthropy' rankings of charity donations, with a $541.5M gift

(Newser) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of the biggest charitable donations from individuals or their foundations totaled more than $3.5 billion in 2023. Four universities received big gifts in 2023, along with four scientific research institutes and a health care system. The other gifts went to a family...

Landlord's Holiday Gift Has Tenants Calling Her an 'Angel'

Britni Ricard gives renters in her New Orleans apartment building a month's free rent

(Newser) - Britni Ricard certainly has her hands full as the CEO of a cosmetics company, but last year, she decided to branch out and start investing in real estate. Now, some uplifting news from the entrepreneur's very first investment property, a 10-unit apartment building in New Orleans where renters, many...

MacKenzie Scott Gave Away $2.1B Last Year

Billionaire philanthropist once married to Jeff Bezos has given away more than $16B since 2019

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott donated $2.1 billion in the past year, she said in an online post, bringing her total reported giving to more than $16 billion since 2019. While previous announcements have included detailed essays about the reasons for her donations, Scott offered only a short post titled "Giving...

He Made $8B, Quietly Gave Almost All of It Away
He Made $8B,
Quietly Gave
Almost All
of It Away
in case you missed it
Oct 14, 2023 1:15 PM CDT

He Made $8B, Quietly Gave Almost All of It Away

Charles Feeney, who founded Atlantic Philanthropies, Duty Free Shoppers, dies at age 92

(Newser) - Almost seven years ago, Charles Feeney achieved what the New York Times calls a "rarity in the philanthropic world": He managed to fulfill his promise to clear out the coffers of Atlantic Philosophies, the foundations group he founded in the '80s, and give away nearly all of his...

Billionaire Offers Surprise Gift to Grads at Commencement

Robert Hale gifts $1K to each UMass Boston student during ceremony, with a heartwarming catch

(Newser) - Students being honored at Thursday's graduation ceremony at UMass Boston not only received their diplomas—there was also an extra-special gift waiting for them, courtesy of commencement speaker Robert Hale, the billionaire CEO of Granite Telecommunications and part owner of the Boston Celtics. CNN reports that as the university'...

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