In 2023, publicly announced philanthropic donations in the United States surpassed $3.5 billion, contributed by wealthy individuals or their foundations. As reported by the Washington-based Chronicle of Philanthropy, major recipients of these donations include universities, scientific research institutes, a healthcare system, a family foundation, and a racial justice group.

The Chronicle’s analysis reveals that the largest individual gifts in 2023 ranged from $200 million to $541.5 million. "Significant donations like these are less likely to be affected by short-term economic fluctuations, as many of the donors are multibillionaires," according to Maria Di Mento, a senior reporter at the Chronicle.

Barron’s reports that eight of the donors are multibillionaires, with a combined net worth of $305.1 billion.

Topping the list is a donation from Warren Buffett, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at approximately $119 billion. The co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway donated 1.5 million of his company’s Class B shares - valued at $541.5 million - to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late first wife, who died in 2004.

The foundation, established in 1964 in Omaha, Nebraska, remains a family affair, with two of Buffett’s three children currently serving on its board. It primarily supports women’s reproductive health and also provides college scholarships for students in Buffett's home state, Nebraska.

Buffett has pledged to donate nearly all of his Berkshire Hathaway-built fortune, which he has led since 1965. The 93-year-old has donated over $50 billion since 2006.

Second on the list is a $500 million donation from Renaissance Technologies hedge fund founder James Simons and his wife, Marilyn. The couple made the donation in June through the Simons Foundation to Stony Brook University, New York, to enhance scholarships, professorships, research, and clinical care.

With an estimated combined net worth of $30.7 billion, the couple has extensive ties to the university - James, 85, chaired the mathematics department from 1968 to 1978, and Marilyn, 72, earned two degrees there. Since 1983, the couple has donated over $1.2 billion to the university.

Tied for third place is the year's largest gift to science, a $400 million donation from Ross Brown, founder of industrial equipment manufacturer Cryogenic Industries, to his alma mater, the California Institute of Technology. The 88-year-old’s November donation will launch the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences.

The institute will support scientific research at other universities and house the Ross Brown Investigators Award program, a scholarship initiative Brown started in 2020 that, until this year, operated outside his foundation. The program provides five-year awards worth $2 million each to mid-career professors in chemistry and physical science research.

Nike co-founder Phil Knight, 85, and his wife, Penny, pledged $400 million to the 1803 Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to rebuilding and strengthening Portland's historic Black community. The donation will create Rebuild Albina, revitalizing the economic and cultural prosperity of a once-thriving Black neighborhood neglected in the 1970s due to predatory lending, biased government practices, and long-term construction projects.

Next on the list are Rocket Mortgage founder and NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers chairman Dan Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer. The couple donated $375 million through the Gilbert Family Foundation to Henry Ford Health for the construction of two medical centers.