The 18 Biggest Charitable Donations of 2016

Looking back on the philanthropic efforts of well-heeled donors over the past 12 months, it turns out that 2016 was a big year for charity. The number of big gifts last year far outshone those of 2015.

By “big gifts” I mean megagifts, or charitable donations of more than $100 million. According to a recent report on publicly announced giving compiled by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, there were 12 donations given by wealthy donors that surpassed $100 million, plus another six that totaled $100 million exactly.

The two largest donations—for $500 million each—came from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny, and investor-philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen.