It’s hard to beat $200 million from a tech billionaire to develop and fund an entire health sciences college at a major research university and a $120 million campaign led by the Muscos and with giving from multiple donors to save a church and monastery with historical roots dating to the 12th century—two record-breaking donations announced in 2017.
But Orange County’s collection of wealthy donors gave it the old college try in 2018—with a fair amount of their philanthropy still flowing to schools, universities and faith-focused groups, as well as hospitals, the arts, and a scattering for cities and community work.
That’s one lesson from the Business Journal’s list of Largest Charitable Gifts of 2018, the centerpiece of this week’s paper, which highlight some of the more notable gifts—money as well as other donations—given out in OC last year.
This year’s list includes 43 donors, each of whom provided gifts valued at $1 million or more. That’s eight more seven-figure or higher donations than last year’s list.
Those donors gave more than $148 million, according to the list.
Notable recipients in 2018 include:
• Colleges: University of California-Irvine, Chapman University, and California State University-Fullerton
• Schools: Mariners Christian, St. Margaret’s Episcopal, Harbor Day, Sage Hill, and Orange Coast College
• Hospitals: Mission Hospital Mission Viejo, Hoag Hospital Foundation, and CHOC Children’s
Other recipients included the cities of Laguna Beach, which received $3.2 million for a climate project, and Newport Beach, which got $1.75 million for a water-focused work; Segerstrom Center for the Arts—$5 million from its longtime benefactor Argyros Family Foundation; and Orange County School of the Arts, or OCSA, which received $2 million for an art and science center, from last year’s list-toppers—Henry and Susan Samueli.
Big Money
The Samuelis towered over last year’s inaugural list, with $200 million in 2017 largesse from their family foundation for UCI to build and endow the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, as well as a separate $30 million pledge for a convergent science building, which came in at No. 4 last year (see related story, page 27).
The Samuelis’ gift to OCSA in 2018 tied for No. 18 on this year’s ranking.
Last year’s list included eight gifts in excess of $10 million; three entries topped that mark this time around.
2017 was a year for mega-donations, even excluding the gifts from the Broadcom co-founder and his wife.
Marybelle and Paul Musco donated $120 million in 2017 to St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, in the East Orange foothills—the second-largest gift in 2017—followed by Dale and Sarah Ann Fowler who gave $45 million for an engineering school at Chapman, on top of a previous $55 million for its law school.
Four other big gifts announced in 2017—from W.M. Keck Foundation and Donna Ford Attallah to Chapman, and from the Pickup Family Foundation and Mike and Lori Gray to Hoag—totaled $56 million.
The other 25 biggest donors on last year’s list gave a total of $42 million, in cash and noncash gifts valued around $25 million.
Big Total
Excluding the eight-figure outliers last year, 2018 shows a wider swath of givers with a larger per-gift average: just under $4 million apiece.
2018’s No. 1 gift is the estimated $25 million from Bill and Judi Leonard and the Leonard Family Foundation, to Mission Hospital Mission Viejo.
The full value of the gift was undisclosed; our estimate is at the level generally associated with such a naming gift.
Two other $10 million-plus gifts last year came from Richard C. and Virginia A. Hunsaker to Hoag Hospital and Thompson Family Foundation to CHOC Children’s (see story, page 80).
Gifting Names
Additional 2018 giving:
• The Argyros family, longtime donors to a variety of arts, education causes in OC and everywhere, whose gifts to Mariners and St. Margaret’s came in at No. 14 and No. 18. Outside OC, they gave $10 million apiece to the George W. Bush Presidential Center and for scholarships from Horatio Alger Association, and another $1 million to the WE charity, formerly known as Free the Children.
• Benjamin and Carmela Du, who gave $5 million to Hoag, tied for No. 6 (see story, page 1)
• William, Jeff and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation, a newly-created foundation from the Bond King and his family members, which gave to CHOC, No. 6; Harbor Day School, No. 18; and the Orange County Teachers of the Year Foundation, No. 32 (see related story, page 1)
• Pacific Life Foundation, which gave $2 million to UCI, tied for No. 18 (see story, page 3)
• David & Molly Pyott Foundation, which gave $1.75 million to Easterseals, ranked No. 27
Several givers were anonymous—see entries at No. 11 and No. 18—and from estates, including those of the late Christian Werner, No. 17; Dale Dykema, No. 31; and Onnolee B. Elliott, No. 33.
