Philanthro-metrics: Mining multi-million-dollar gifts

Area of Science:

• Philanthropy Studies
• Sociology
• Data Science

Background:

• The Million Dollar List (MDL) is a comprehensive database of charitable donations of $1 million or more in the U.S. since 2000.
• As of December 2016, MDL documented nearly 80,000 gifts from diverse sources including individuals, corporations, and foundations.
• Understanding large-scale philanthropy is crucial for assessing private funding's role in societal progress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the Million Dollar List database for insights into large charitable gifts.
• To investigate the impact of geographic distance and social networks on philanthropic giving.
• To highlight the importance of philanthropy in driving innovation and discovery across various sectors.

Main Methods:

• Data compilation from publicly announced charitable donations of $1 million+.
• Analysis of geospatial and temporal dimensions of philanthropic gifts.
• Examination of factors influencing million-dollar-plus donations, including distance and networks.

Main Results:

• The study provides unique insights into how distance affects charitable giving patterns.
• Network structures are shown to impact the flow of million-dollar-plus gifts.
• Philanthropic contributions are vital for advancing research and development in science, arts, environment, and health.

Conclusions:

• The Million Dollar List offers valuable data for understanding large-scale philanthropy.
• Geospatial and temporal analyses of philanthropy can inform researchers and policymakers.
• Philanthropy plays a critical role in supporting innovation and discovery across key societal domains.