We wanted to compile a running, non-exhaustive list of cases in which the largest donation ever received by an institution was made by an anonymous donor. We want to showcase and celebrate the powerful impact that anonymous donors can and do have in today’s philanthropic landscape.

We hope that this impressive list further underscores the need for and importance of anonymous donors, and their place in modern philanthropy. With the undeniable global trend and movement toward personal privacy alreadyunderway,connecting with privacy-conscious donors is a savvy way for a nonprofit organization to reach and resonate with a broader spectrum of the donor demographic. For every transformative anonymous donor, there are thousands of other donors who also want to give anonymous gifts.

For the list below, we deliberately chose gifts that represented a breadth of different industries. This includes different universities, city foundations, public radio, charities, hospitals, theaters, museums, and more. The impact of anonymous donors is felt everywhere. This list was compiled after about one evening of searching, so there is no doubt many more donations that fit this category than the ones we have listed below. This list is just some food for thought – which also happens to total over $3 billion in donations.

Silent Donor also regularlypartnerswith charity and nonprofit organizations for free, allowing for anonymous gifts to be received every day. Partnering with us is an effortless and free way for your organization to appeal to donors who may prefer to give anonymously, or are more privacy-minded. It’s as easy as listing us as an “other way to give” or adding us within your online giving options. Who knows, your organization may receive a wonderful gift as a result. (if you’re a nonprofit, get in touch with us at: [email protected])

All of the following gifts are the largest donations ever received in the history of these institutions and almost all were donated within just the past three or four years, which is remarkable and also shows the ever-increasing relevance of anonymous donors considering the ages of some of institutions listed below (in no particular order):

Anonymous donors are powerful, and they actually give more (on average) than their non-anonymous counterparts. Silent Donor’s donation average, for instance, is a little over 3x the US national online giving average. For all of the donors inspired by this impressive list, click the button below to send an anonymous donation of your own!