The Generous Virginians Project

Published June 30, 2020 by Staff Reports

Despite record-breaking gifts to universities and nonprofit organizations in 2019 and early 2020 — including a $68 million gift to the Darden School of Business and $50 million gifts to Virginia Tech and George Mason University — philanthropic giving in Virginia this year has quickly pivoted from traditional donations to gifts that are responding to recent national crises.

Beginning in March, donors organized fund drives and other efforts to help businesses, organizations and individuals impacted by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Then in June, major corporate donors made significant gifts to support social justice initiatives in a show of support for nationwide protests against racial injustice, which were sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The following pages detail major donations made by Virginians this year and last.

Gifts of healing
Virginians counter COVID-19, racial injustice via philanthropy
by Sydney Lake

Generous Virginians charts:

• The 50 largest Virginia charities
• Total corporate donations
• Donations by individuals and family foundations
• Donations by companies and corporate foundations
• Donations by independent foundations and groups

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