Hardly anyone makes money hand over fist like those who are famous in Hollywood. Each movie makes them more than most of us will earn in a lifetime. Every television appearance can make them the average person’s yearly salary. With that in mind, it’s a wonder that charities need to fund raise at all, with all that income flowing to the top 1%. Some rich folks, including celebrities, are very giving when it comes to charitable causes and their generosity has made a difference in lives all over the world.
Some give to particular religious organizations, and some spread the wealth around to various causes. Whether it’s for a tax write-off, publicity, or just to make a difference as a good person, these celebrities are writing large checks to their favorite charities.
Here are some celebrity givers who lead the Hollywood pack in charitable contributions.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has pledged $43 million (£30.4m) to the help conserve the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. The money will go to Re:Wild, an organisation founded earlier this year by DiCaprio and a team of conservation specialists, the Galápagos National Park Directorate, Island Conservation, and local communities. The money will go towards restoring Floreana Island, which is home to 54 threatened species, as well as reintroduce 13 extinct species. It will also introduce a captive breeding programme to prevent the extinction of animals such as the pink iguana.
It’s not the first time DiCaprio has put his money towards conservation and saving endangered species through his eponymous foundation. The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has awarded more than $80 million (£57.5m) in grants since 2010, funding more than 200 high-impact projects across 50 countries.
Sir Elton John
Music legend Sir Elton John is one seriously generous star. Year after year he has featured on the Sunday Times Giving List, coming 11th in 2020 with donations of £23.3 million ($32m). The majority of his very generous giving goes to his charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which he has in both the UK and US. The two foundations together have raised more than $385 million (£285m) over the past 25 years.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
The Hollywood power couple have given millions over the course of their careers to help those less fortunate. Together the duo look after the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, offering donations to a wide variety of causes including more than $1 million (£718k) in grants for Jada’s alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts, and a reported $1 million (£718k) for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through the #FriendLikeMe challenge, ahead of the 2019 film Aladdin, in which Will Smith played the genie. The foundation’s most recent projects include an initiative to encourage young women into the film industry and delivering 500 meals to the homeless in New York in 2019.
Taylor Swift
Music sensation Taylor Swift was just 22 when she was named the most generous star of 2012 after donating a whopping $4 million (£2.5m) to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, which allowed the creation of a Taylor Swift Education Center. Swift’s generosity has continued throughout her career and into the COVID-19 pandemic. In August last year, the singer hit the headlines for donating £23,000 ($30k) to an 18-year-old in the UK who couldn’t afford to go to university, and recently made a quiet donation of $50,000 (£36k) to the GoFundMe campaign of a Tennessee mother of five who lost her husband to coronavirus just before Christmas.
Eva Longoria
Former Desperate Housewives actor Eva Longoria donates to more than 40 different charities. The star has received dozens of awards for her charitable work within Hispanic communities, and she’s so passionate about her culture she started her own charity, the Eva Longoria Foundation, which aims to empower Latinas through education and entrepreneurship. So far, the organisation has given out more than $1.95 million (£1.4m) in loans to Latina entrepreneurs, and has offered STEM education or mentoring schemes to more than 3,700 people. Seeing the way in which COVID-19 disproportionately affected Latinos, Longoria also launched Momento Latino, a movement looking to improve the health, finances and education of those in the Latinx community.
Beyoncé
The first lady of Hollywood, Meryl Streep, has been a generous contributor to charities over the course of her career. In 2009 she reportedly donated $1 million (£706k) to the National Women’s History Museum, for which she is a spokesperson, and $1 million (£627k) to The Public Theatre in 2012, and it’s estimated that the actor donates around $1 million (£718k) every year to causes such as Oxfam of America and Partners in Health through her Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts, which she founded with husband Donald Gummer in 1983. Streep’s most recent donation that hit the headlines was $25,000 (£19.4k) to the female victims of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon in August last year.
