Philanthropy is a top hobby for wealthy individuals, and while there is always a need for giving, philanthropy took on a new importance in 2020 and 2021.
High-net-worth individuals play an outsized role in philanthropy and continue to do so amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, they donated $5.8 billion in direct response to COVID-19 in 2020, accounting for 27% of all COVID-19 philanthropy, according to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
There's more to the story of how high-net-worth individuals responded to the pandemic through philanthropy, so read on for additional insights.
Note: in this article, we'll use the following definitions:
- High-net-worth (HNW) individuals: those with a net worth over $5 million.
- Very-high-net-worth (VHNW) individuals: those with a net worth between $5 and $30 million.
- Ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals: those with a net worth over $30 million.
Key findings
- High-net-worth individuals gave $5.8 billion in philanthropic funding for COVID-19 in 2020 -- 27% of all COVID-19 philanthropy that year.
- In 2020, ultra-high-net-worth individuals gave, on average, over $2 million each to COVID-19- and social-justice-related causes. Overall, they were most likely to support educational initiatives in those areas.
- Five donors made philanthropic donations of over $1 billion in 2020: Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, Michael Bloomberg, Philip and Penelope Knight, and Jack Dorsey. Scott was responsible for nearly all of the $968 million of COVID-19 philanthropy that high-net-worth individuals designated for BIPOC communities
- Google was the sole corporation to give more than $1 billion in COVID-19-related philanthropy.
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Jack Dorsey's Start Small LLC each gave $1 billion toward COVID-19 philanthropy in 2020.
High-net-worth individuals gave $5.8 billion worth of COVID-19-related philanthropic funding in 2020
HNW individuals made $5.8 billion in COVID-19-related philanthropic donations in 2020, according to data collected from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. That amounted to 27% of philanthropic funding for COVID-19 among major donor groups.
Only corporations and corporate foundations combined gave more, with roughly $9.4 billion, worth about 44% of donations among major donors.
Two other data points suggest that high-net-worth donors are powerhouse givers. While they were responsible for over a quarter of donations by value among major donor groups, HNW individuals composed just 4% of donors among major donor groups and distributed only 1% of gifts given, which are defined by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy as publicly announced donations above $50,000.
Philanthropic funding for COVID-19 by donor type: 2020
