New AI methodology powers the latest million dollar list

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New research from Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy examines charitable gifts of $1 million or more from 2021 to 2023. The Million-Dollar-Plus Giving in the United States, 2021–2023 report offers insights into how these donors responded to a rapidly changing environment.

This three-year period is significant because Americans faced the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a challenging socioeconomic landscape. Throughout this time, individuals, foundations and corporations played distinct roles.

The report uses data from the Million Dollar List (MDL), a dataset of publicly announced charitable gifts of $1 million or more compiled from media reports and other publicly available sources, to examine patterns in million-dollar-plus giving in the U.S.

Key insights from 2021 to 2023:

• The Million Dollar List recorded 6,002 donations of $1 million or more, totaling $106.22 billion.
• Individual donors in the U.S. were the largest source of million-dollar-plus gifts, giving a total of $48.50 billion across 2,641 gifts (44% of total gifts).
• Most million-dollar-plus gifts fell within the $1 million–$2 million range, with 1,521 gifts (25%) totaling $1.82 billion (1.7%). In contrast, gifts of $200 million or more accounted for only 44 gifts (0.7%) but represented the largest share of total dollars contributed—$31.64 billion, or 30% of total dollars.
• Across charitable subsectors, human services received both the largest number of gifts (1,273 gifts, or 21%) and the highest value of million-dollar-plus gifts ($23.16 billion, or 21.8%), followed by public and societal benefit ($20.5 billion from 1,132 gifts) and higher education ($16.4 billion from 796 gifts).
• There were 419 gifts (6.9% of total gifts) of $50 million or more. These gifts were fewer in number but accounted for the largest share of dollars, at $62.54 billion (58.8% of total dollars).
• Among gifts of $50 million or more, approximately 176 went to organizations in the same state as the donor, compared with 71 gifts to out-of-state recipients. However, out-of-state recipients received a larger share of giving by value—$22.30 billion, compared with $17.60 billion for in-state recipients.

While the MDL is not an exhaustive record of all million-dollar-plus gifts, it sheds light on the giving patterns of high-net-worth donors, especially during times of crisis, transition and renewed stabilization in American socioeconomic history. With this new Million Dollar List release, the school has incorporated an improved methodology powered by artificial intelligence to capture, categorize and process publicly announced gifts of more than $1 million.

What's next?

As the MDL continues to track million-dollar-plus giving, data from 2024 and beyond will reveal whether the patterns observed in this study represent a temporary response to extraordinary circumstances or signal a longer-term shift in philanthropic behavior. Future analysis can also show how donors respond to potential reductions in government funding and the extent to which private philanthropy may fill the gaps.

More information

Million-Dollar-Plus Giving in the United States, 2021-2023: Patterns of Concentration and Change, scholarworks.indianapolis.iu.e … d8-a82d-0b28d81ce2d3

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Citation: New AI methodology powers the latest million dollar list (2026, September 23) retrieved 23 September 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-methodology-powers-latest-million.html

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