The Sunday Times Giving List 2023: the 100 most generous Rich Listers give away £3.4 billion to charity

Since 2005, we've partnered with The Sunday Times to produce the Giving List, part of the annual Rich List, which celebrates the incredible work of philanthropists in Britain. This year’s list tracks the philanthropic activity of 100 of Britain’s wealthiest people who collectively gave £3.4 billion to charity personally or through their charitable foundations or businesses this year, up by more than a billion on last year’s total giving. The Giving List found that seven members of the Rich List gave more than £100 million in the past year, 42 gave £10 million or more, while 90 were members of the £1 million donors club. 

This year, the list was topped by Sir Chris Hohn for the second year in a row. Sir Chris donated 15% of his wealth to charity in 2021, which equates to an incredible £755 million, or £86,000 per hour.

In the Sunday Times article, he speaks of the joy that giving brings him and calls on his fellow Rich Listers to commit to sharing more of their wealth. His comments echo those of Orlando Fraser, Chair of the Charity Commission, who recently stated that he’d made it a personal priority of his to encourage the wealthiest in our society to increase their giving “We can encourage others to dig deep… I think many more could do a great deal more to strengthen our society and help those who are struggling.”

It is an essential time to boost philanthropy and to find new ways to foster a culture of giving in the UK. The cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation continue to increase costs for charities and many more people are relying on their vital services. Our Charity Resilience Index found three in five charities report demand has increased since last year and 50% have had to use their reserves to cover day-to-day running costs. In fact, more than half (53%) are worried about surviving.

At the same time, we have seen from our recent UK Giving Report that fewer regular givers are donating in response to these pressures, with 17% saying they would be likely to cut their charitable donations last year.

Of the 100 names on the Giving List, only a third gave 1% or more of their wealth to charity. Research by the Law Family Commission says most top earners who declared charitable donations gave less than 0.2% of their income. If the top 1% of earners were to increase their donations to 1% of their pre-tax income, it could generate up to £1.4 billion a year.

But the Giving List is hopeful. Sir Chris Hohn is an example of the trend we are seeing- someone who has already given a great deal yet continues to respond to the world around him by giving more. Research suggests the wealthy are stepping up in response to the cost-of-living crisis; according to Beacon Collaborative, one in three millionaires made a charitable gift over £10,000 in the first three months of 2023. Our own data shows that where share gifts have dropped due to stock market performance, this has been more than made up for by increased cash donations.

In the UK, we tend to be reserved when it comes to talking about our charitable giving, but by highlighting these large donors who are doing more, we hope it can provide inspiration to others. Supporting civil society is worth celebrating. With the purchasing power of donations eroded by inflation and charities in need of support, it’s absolutely crucial that the wealthiest in society set an extraordinary example.

THE SUNDAY TIMES GIVING LIST 2023 – Ranked by the proportion of wealth given or generated for charity 

*For the full 100 go to sundaytimes.co.uk/richlist