Charity is the actual action that is taken to improve someone’s life: stocking shelves at a food bank like Tony’s Feeding America project, building shelters for refugees or providing medical care after a disaster. As an organization, a charity is the entity that coordinates and supplies these on-the-ground services.

Philanthropy is what supplies charities with the funds, personnel and equipment they need. So what is a philanthropist versus a volunteer? They share many similarities, but philanthropy is a strategic process in which donations of time, skills and/or money are made in order to address a systemic or social issue.

Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones is known as a top philanthropist in the United States. His Robin Hood Foundation focuses on poverty education and has been serving families in New York for over three decades. He specifically focuses on those investments and nonprofits to produce real, measurable results, like he would an investment.

Jones has been able to leverage his network of hedge fund managers to get partners and additional funding for the foundation through their organizations, creating a network effect and increasing its impact in multiples. 

Since 2003, through Dalio Philanthropies, Bridgewater Founder Ray Dalio and his family have contributed over $1 billion to a wide range of meaningful causes — including health equity, social entrepreneurship, education, ocean exploration, and much more. Dalio’s approach to philanthropy is distinct in that he does not look for credit or public awareness, but rather tends to make his donations in secret.

He has partnered with Tony on Feeding America, as well as supporting Boys & Girls Clubs on America, and donated $1.2M to end human trafficking.

Marc Benioff is one of Tony’s closest friends, and in fact, attended Tony’s events multiple times before he started Salesforce.com, attributing the company’s success to what he learned from Tony!

In addition to being a successful entrepreneur and software genius, Benioff created a new model of philanthropy that has been eagerly accepted and implemented in over 700 companies worldwide.

The ‘1-1-1 model’, or the Pledge 1% Movement, allows companies to contribute 1 % product value, 1% equity and 1% of employee hours to communities and programs around the world. Through this model, Benioff has provided grant funding to date of over $115 million, given access to Salesforce technology to over 28,000 charitable and nonprofit organizations and donated over 1.3 million employee volunteer hours.

Marc and Tony have also partnered on philanthropic initiatives, including the purchase of a soup kitchen in the Mission district of San Francisco so that it may continue to serve the community despite rent hikes.

Since the year 2000, Warren Buffett has given more than $46 billion to charity and is commonly known as one of the world’s biggest philanthropists. As the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett is believed to be worth roughly $96 billion, putting him on the top 10 list of richest people in the world. Buffett has given portions of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation and the NoVo Foundation among many others.

Oprah Winfrey is perhaps one of the most impressive of the world’s top celebrity philanthropists because she truly fits the term “self-made.” After growing up in a poor household in Mississippi and enduring sexual abuse, she still managed to overcome the many obstacles she faced and found major success. Not only has Winfrey brought to light the needs of people around the globe through her talk show and reporting endeavors, but she’s donated millions of dollars through the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation. Her foundation took on most of the responsibilities of the Angel Network and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, contributing more than $140 million to The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. 

As a philanthropist, she’s also supported causes like Time’s Up, N Street Village and the Museum of African American History and Culture. Oprah is the epitome of philanthropy and has shown that famous philanthropists don’t have to come from wealthy families and that they can choose the causes that have the most meaning for them.

You probably know Michael Jordan as one of the most talented NBA players of all time, but he has transcended that role to become one of the most influential celebrity philanthropists in the nation. Since becoming a majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, Jordan has helped the team give away more than $3 million to a number of causes, including those related to the military, education and feeding the hungry.

As a personal philanthropist, he’s made multimillion-dollar donations to Friends of the Children, donated $2 million to Hurricane Florence relief efforts and has served as Make-A-Wish’s Chief Wish Ambassador since 2008, and donated $10 million to open two new medical clinics in his hometown. Jordan has shown that he understands lifelong growth is possible and continues to grow by contributing outside himself to make a big difference in the lives of others.

Serena Williams is a superstar on the court, but she’s just as big of a star when it comes to philanthropic endeavors. Serena and her sister Venus opened The Yetunde Price Resource Center in their hometown of Compton, named after their sister who was a victim of gang violence. The Center creates resources for Compton community members and promotes healing and resiliency for locals. Serena also sells her daughter’s clothing on Poshmark and donates proceeds to the Williams Sisters Fund, which uses the money for violence prevention, education and athletic engagement in the inner city.

When you think of wildly successful authors, J.K. Rowling always comes to mind. The Harry Potter writer has captivated people all over the world with her spellbinding characters and magical world-building. She also comes to mind as one of the world’s high-impact famous philanthropists. From books, movies, theme parks and merchandise sales, Rowling quickly rose to billionaire status.

Today, due to her numerous charitable donations, Rowling is now worth closer to $60 million and has become a philanthropic role model. Her global charity Lumos, named for a spell in the wizarding series, aims to help children who have been wrongfully separated from their families and placed in orphanages. Lumos supports child welfare programming by advocating for and funding various education, health and social care system reforms. Rowling remains one of the most outspoken celebrity philanthropists who backs up her monetary contributions with efforts to enact international political change.

Among the most glamorous philanthropists is iconic designer and businesswoman Diane von Furstenberg. The fashion designer responsible for the creation and popularity of the wrap dress, von Furstenberg has become one of the biggest philanthropists in the fashion industry. She and her husband, media mogul and founder of the USA network Barry Diller, have pledged to give over $1 billion in charitable contributions. As the director of The Diller–von Furstenberg Family Foundation, this famous philanthropist has already helped generate millions of dollars to help organizations in the public spaces, community building, education, arts, human rights and environmental sectors.

Cuban-American rap superstar Pitbull clearly knows the power of music and happens to be one of the most high-profile celebrity philanthropists in the world. His philanthropic efforts helped create the Sports Leadership and Management Academy (SLAM) in Little Havana to give opportunities to disadvantaged youth in Miami. He’s also made plans to expand SLAM into other locations including Las Vegas and Atlanta.

The entertainment mogul has also been inducted into the Ambassador David M. Walters International Pediatric Hall of Fame for his support of the Miami Children’s Foundation and is an avid supporter of the Imaginate Foundation, an organization that provides resources for low-income families in the Miami area. He may be known as “Mr. Worldwide,” but Pitbull could just as easily be known as “Mr. Philanthropist.”

Politician, author and now one of the country’s biggest philanthropists, Michael Bloomberg is the eleventh richest person in the world. He uses this wealth in a way that is in line with his life’s work – by helping to improve city governments around the world. In 2018 alone, Bloomberg donated $767 million, and has pledged $1.8 billion to his alma mater Johns Hopkins University which will be paid out this year. Bloomberg is the perfect example of a famous philanthropist who clearly understands that living a fulfilling life is only possible when you contribute beyond yourself.

Since first promising in 2019 to give away her entire fortune, the billionaire MacKenzie Scott has handed out over $12 billion to nonprofits. That enormous sum has vaulted her to the top ranks of philanthropists worldwide.

And her momentum is only growing. In a 2022 essay she described an additional $3.9 billion in gifts (in less than one year!) to 465 nonprofits across various areas including climate and education, as well as Ukraine relief efforts.