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Millionaire donors came out of hiding during 2024, with 242 donors making gifts totaling $11.6 billion. Excluding anonymous donors, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott made more $10 million plus gifts than any other donor for the fifth consecutive year.
The data was sourced through this past February 18 by Marts&Lundy for its report “$10M+Gifts 2025.”
There were increases across the board. The number of gifts increased 17%; the number of donors 16%; and, total value of gifts by 6%. While giving in 2024 did not reach the historic highs of 2020–2022, during which each year was boosted by mega gifts of $5 million and more, 2024 saw the strongest giving of any year since 2017.
After a one-year absence of reported billion-dollar gifts in 2023, a single gift at that level was made in 2024: Ruth Gottesman’s $1 billion donation to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. This gift was twice the size of 2023’s largest reported gift ($500 million). Excluding these top gifts, overall giving in 2024 increased by 1.5% compared with 2023.
At the $100 million to $999 million gift level, there were 24 reported gifts, one fewer than in 2023. However, the total dollars from these gifts fell by nearly $2 billion due to a decrease in ultra-large gifts. In 2023, this category included three reported $400 million gifts and two $500 million gifts. In 2024, the largest gift in this range was $400 million. This smaller size contributed to the overall decline in total nine-figure giving.
In contrast, there was growth at the eight-figure gift level. The number of $50 million to $99 million gifts rose by 15, and $10 million to $49 million gifts increased by 32.
Planned giving accounted for 7% of the total number of gifts of $10 million and more during 2024. During the past 10 years, its share fluctuated significantly, driven by a few exceptionally large planned gifts. The three largest reported planned gifts since 2015 — each valued at $500 million or more — were made in 2015 (one gift) and 2017 (two gifts), skewing the totals in those years.
Gifts of at least $10 million were received by organizations in 42 states and Washington, D.C. In 2024 and 2022, New York led in total mega- gifts in 2024 and 2022, while in 2023, 2021, and 2020, California received the most.
Go to https://martsandlundy.com to see the complete report.
