Fred Eshelman, who became wealthy developing medications, donated $100 million to the pharmacy school at the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill last week, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
So far this year, 15 other donors have contributed $100 million or more to favored causes, The Chronicle reported.
According to its tally of gifts made by early December in 2013 and 2014, contributions of $50 million or more increased by more than $800 million.
This included nearly $5 billion in donations of $50 million or more.
Bigger gifts rather than more of them accounted for the increased dollar figure, The Chronicle said, as donations of $50 million or more were static year on year.
Following are the 15 biggest gifts currently listed on The Chronicle's database of all gifts of more than $100 million this year:
15. (tie) Frederic Hamilton
$100 million
Donor's source of wealth: Investments, oil
Recipient: Denver Art Museum (Colorado)
Cause: Arts
Gift type: Estimated noncash
15. (tie) Marc R. (pictured) and Lynne Benioff
$100 million
Donor: Marc R. and Lynne Benioff
Donor's source of wealth: Technology
Recipient: University of California at San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital
Cause: Health
Gift type: Pledge
15. (tie) $100 million
Donor: Anonymous
Recipient: Dartmouth College (New Hampshire)
Cause: Colleges and universities
Gift type: Gift challenge
15. (tie) Henry R. and Marie-Josée Kravis (pictured)
$100 million
Donor's source of wealth: Finance
Recipient: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York)
Cause: Health
15. (tie) $100 million
Donor: Dennis and Carol Troesh
Donor's source of wealth: Industry
Recipient: Loma Linda University Health (California)
Cause: Health
Gift type: Pledge
15. (tie) $100 million
Donor: Anonymous
Recipient: Oregon Health & Science University Foundation
Cause: Colleges and universities
Gift type: Pledge
9. Ernest Rady
$120 million
Donor: Ernest Rady
Donor's source of wealth: Finance, real estate
Recipient: Rady Children's Hospital Foundation (California)
Cause: Health
Gift type: Pledge
8. T. Denny Sanford (pictured)
$125 million
Donor: T. Denny Sanford
Donor's source of wealth: Finance
Recipient: Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Cause: Health
Gift type: Pledge
7. Kenneth C. Griffin
$150 million
Donor's source of wealth: Finance
Recipient: Harvard University (Massachusetts)
Cause: Colleges and universities
6. Anonymous
$275 million
Recipient: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (California)
Cause: Medical research
Gift type: Pledge
5. Morningside Foundation (Gerald and Ronald Chan)
$350 million
Donor's source of wealth: Family wealth, finance, investments
Recipient: Harvard School of Public Health (Massachusetts)
Cause: Colleges and universities
4. Nicholas (pictured) and Jill Woodman
$500 million
Donor's source of wealth: Technology
Recipient: Silicon Valley Community Foundation (Mountain View, Calif.)
Cause: Community foundations
3. (tie) David H. Murdock
$500 million
Donor's source of wealth: Food and beverage, real estate
Recipient: David H. Murdock Research Institute (North Carolina)
Cause: Science
Gift type: Estimated pledge
3. (tie) Jerry Perenchio (pictured)
$500 million
Donor's source of wealth: Media and entertainment
Recipient: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (California)
Cause: Arts
Gift type: Pledge
1. Stanley Family Foundation (Theodore Stanley, Founder, MBI)
$650 million
Donor's source of wealth: Marketing
Recipient: Broad Institute (Massachusetts)
Cause: Health
Gift type: Pledge
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