Advancing education and healthcare in the region remained top of mind for local philanthropists last year.
This nugget was reflected in some of Orange County’s largest charitable gifts, which largely went to universities and hospitals to support breakthrough research and new construction.
UCI led the donor list for the fifth year in a row, receiving 26 gifts of $1 million or more totaling $132.8 million.
It was a big year for the school. Last October, UCI concluded its decade-long Brilliant Future campaign, surpassing its $2 billion goal ahead of schedule by half a billion dollars. The comprehensive campaign is the largest to take place in Orange County, according to officials.
Closing out the campaign was a $50 million gift from the Quilter family to the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI Mind), the university’s research institute for aging and dementia research. The gift will support a new state-of-the-art research and care facility for UCI Mind.
“UCI Mind has been around for quite a few years, but we’ve always had a dream to really expand it,” Brian Hervey, vice chancellor for university advancement and alumni relations, previously told the Business Journal.
Patrick Quilter also made a $40 million gift to Laguna College of Art + Design last year.
Patrick Quilter, co-founder of QSC Audio and Quilter Labs, was identified as the anonymous donor last September. His gift, the largest ever for LCAD, kickstarted the college’s $100 million capital campaign to consolidate its classes onto one main campus that’s expected to be completed by 2028.
Altogether, the list shows 115 donations, a record number of gifts, valued at $1 million or more that totaled $525 million, a 23% increase from the prior year.
Two $50M Gifts to Hoag, Providence
Topping the list, tied with UCI, were two more $50 million gifts to Hoag Hospital Foundation and Providence Mission Foundation. Hoag Hospital Foundation received the second-most donations with 17 gifts totaling $99 million.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian is in the middle of its own campaign called Boldly Hoag to raise $300 million before the first phase of its $1.2 billion expansion in Irvine is expected to be completed in July.
Philanthropists David and Diana Sun donated an additional $50 million last year to Hoag. Their original $50 million gift made in 2021 kickstarted the expansion, naming the entire six-building project the Sun Family Campus.
The other $50 million gift on the list came from master developer Rancho Mission Viejo to Providence Mission Hospital.
“We’re investing in all the people that are here every day because we see what goes on here, and it’s really special,” Tony Moiso, chief executive and chairman of Rancho Mission Viejo, told the Business Journal at the time the gift was announced last March.
“What goes on here is worth supporting,” he added.
The gift, the largest gift in the hospital’s 33-year history, will support Mission Hospital’s multiphase expansion plan that was first announced in 2022. It’s spending $712 million over seven years to expand its operations in South Orange County, including new clinics in San Clemente and Rancho Mission Viejo.
In recognition of the gift, Mission Hospital is naming its new 100-bed hospital tower, expected to open in 2030, the Rancho Mission Viejo Family Tower.
The Samueli Foundation, founded by Henry and Susan Samueli, donated 24 gifts totaling $56 million in 2025.
Last November, the foundation announced that it’s investing more than $24 million in six local colleges to boost STEM student success rates and workforce development. Part of the $24 million is establishing a three-year, $4 million regional STEM collaboration between Fullerton College, Irvine Valley College, Orange Coast College and California State University, Fullerton.
Funding the Arts in Elementary Schools
Other notable gifts on the list include a $2 million gift from Irvine Company and the Donald Bren Foundation to Irvine Unified School District.
The gift is part of a 20-year, nearly 450 million funding commitment to bolster the arts, music and science programs at elementary schools within the district.
“Educational opportunity and excellence have always been at the heart of our planning efforts in Irvine,” Irvine Co. Senior Vice President Jeff Davis said in a statement.
The Irvine Co. and Bren-backed program has served more than 200,000 elementary students since 2006, according to officials.
American Red Cross also received $1 million from Fullerton-based construction company SASCO to boost disaster relief efforts following the devastating California wildfires.
The donation helped Red Cross provide disaster relief and recovery services to an estimated 178,000 people, according to Firey.
