# Who benefits from million-pound charitable donations?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/09/who-benefits-millionpound-charitable-donations/
- Published: 2008-11-09T23:57:27+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Analysis of the largest charitable donations made in the UK shows that health 
charities, international aid/development organisations and higher education institutions
were the main beneficiaries in 2006/07.**

The Coutts Million-Pound Donors Report, published to mark the launch of the new 
Centre for Philanthropy, Humanitarianism and Social Justice (CPHSJ) at the University
of Kent, reveals that 193 gifts of £1 million or more were made in 2006/07, totaling
£1.6 billion.

![Size of million pound donations - source: CPHSJ](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/
files/u11/size_of_millionpound_donations.gif "Size of million pound donations - 
source: CPHSJ")

Of these, 64% were under £3 million but 12% were for £10 million or more. The five
largest donations, worth £100 million or more, were all placed into trusts and foundations
for distribution at a later date, rather than given directly to charities.

## Advertisement

The [Coutts](http://www.coutts.com/philanthropy) Million-Pound Donors Report was
written by Beth Breeze of the CPHSJ. Described as “the first [report] to focus on
million pound charitable donations”, it includes case studies of million pound donors
and of charities that have received donations of this size.

Beth Breeze said: “Million pound donors talk about the ‘exhilarating’ feeling of
being able to transform lives, and recipients say gifts of this size bring a psychological
boost that lifts the spirit of staff and volunteers.”

She added: “This research is important because there’s very little reliable information
about giving by the richest members of our society… Now we know that ‘million pound
donors’ differ [from average donors] not just in the scale of their gifts, but in
what they choose to support and how they go about making their gifts.”

A copy of the [Coutts Million-Pound Donors Report](http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/cphsj)
may be downloaded.