Some of the richest people in the United States support progressive causes and the number of such donors has grown in recent years amid a vast influx of wealth into philanthropy. These givers have acquired their fortunes in different ways, including finance, tech, inheritance, and divorce or widowhood. They support a diverse array of organizations on the left.
Identifying and contacting leading progressive philanthropists is not easy. While some have transparent foundations, many more do their giving in an opaque fashion that can frustrate fundraisers. But a first step to approaching these donors is to know who they are.
All of the individuals listed here have a history of supporting progressive organizations. Many of these donors don't clearly position themselves as left of center, while others are more explicit in their commitments.
This list was created with our media partner Inside Philanthropy, which houses a trove of research designed to assist fundraisers—including articles and profiles of most of the donors listed.
You can use the tool below to search Inside Philanthropy's research guides for the individuals on this list and other funders. Accessing these resources requires a subscription to Inside Philanthropy. Blue Tent members can receive a 25% discount on this subscription by using the code BLUETENT.
J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath
Director and producer J.J. Abrams and his wife Katie McGrath have an active foundation that has given for education, policy, human services and the arts.
Adam Albright
An investor, Albright gives through the ARIA Foundation. He’s a steady backer of environmentalist and LGBTQ causes, and has served on the boards of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Nancy Bagley
An heir to the Reynolds tobacco fortune, Bagley was active in Democratic Party politics in the 1990s before settling into leadership roles with the Arca Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Nicole Bagley
Like her sister Nancy Bagley, Nicole Bagley serves on the board of the Area Foundation, founded by their grandmother. She also helps lead the Sapelo Foundation, also founded by the Reynolds family.
Patricia Bauman
Bauman’s father created the Bauman Foundation, a D.C.-based progressive funding outfit where she has served as President since 1987.
Marc and Lynne Benioff
The Salesforce founder has a major philanthropic profile in the Bay Area, where he has emerged as an advocate for anti-homelessness efforts. He’s a progenitor and proponent of the 1-1-1 model of corporate giving.
Diana Blank
Blank’s former husband, Arthur Blank, co-founded Home Depot. She created the Kendeda Fund in 2003, but only came to light as its principal donor in 2015.
Michael Bloomberg
The former New York City mayor’s stalled presidential ambitions showed that money can only go so far; nevertheless, he remains a pivotal funder of left-leaning endeavors like reducing gun violence and shuttering fossil fuel plants.
David Bohnett
Bohnett’s career as an early internet entrepreneur (remember GeoCities?) netted him a fortune, which he employs to support causes like LGBTQ rights, gun violence prevention and civic programming in Los Angeles.
Susie Tompkins Buell and Mark Buell
Susie Tompkins Buell founded The North Face along with her first husband Doug Tompkins. Both Tompkins Buell and current husband Mark Buell are prominent Democratic donors, and she maintains a close relationship with the Clintons.
Peter and Jennifer Buffett
The son and daughter-in-law of the legendary investor, these Buffetts founded the NoVo Foundation, which funds womens’ rights and anti-violence efforts across the globe.
Susan A. Buffett
Warren Buffett’s daughter Susan Buffett founded the Omaha-based Sherwood Foundation, another entry in the Buffett family’s collection of left-leaning philanthropies.
Warren Buffett
Buffett isn't a hands-on philanthropist, but his kids are, and the interesting story here is what that next generation is doing with the billions that Buffett isn't turning over to the Gates Foundation.
John H. Burbank
Hedge fund manager John Burbank founded the Passport Foundation, which shares a name with his San Francisco-based investment company, Passport Capital. Burbank’s philanthropic interests emphasize the environment, with additional grants to progressive advocacy groups.
Audrey Cappell
Daughter of billionaire liberal donor James Simons, Cappell is behind the Foundation for a Just Society. Its grants benefit organizations working to advance women, girls and LGBTQ people in the U.S. and abroad.
Ben Cohen
Cohen founded Ben & Jerry’s ice cream with Jerry Greenberg in the 1970s. He has long been a vocal Democrat and progressive, and backed Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid.
David desJardins and Nancy Blachman
A mathematician and early employee at Google, desJardins gives through the Desjardins-Blachman Foundation along with his wife. The couple support progressive advocacy and movement groups, and have been active with the Democracy Alliance.
Abigail Disney
Disney is a grandniece of Walt Disney, and works as a social activist and documentary filmmaker. She supports racial justice organizing through the Daphne Foundation and has been critical of corporate compensation at the Walt Disney Company.
Jack Dorsey
Dorsey’s role at the helm of Twitter earns him frequent mention in the news. Behind the scenes, he has been ramping up his giving through Start Small, which cut its teeth on COVID-19 relief and began funding social justice movements at a steady clip soon after.
Anne Earhart
Earhart’s fortune stems from the oil wealth of J. Paul Getty. As the founder of the Marisla Foundation, this below-the-radar donor gives to environmental causes and human services in southern California.
Farhad Ebrahimi
The Chorus Foundation founder has harnessed an inherited fortune to back bottom-up progressive power-building with an emphasis on environmental justice and structural change.
Lauren Embrey
Embrey serves as President of the Embrey Family Foundation and is on numerous nonprofit boards, including that of the Democracy Alliance. Based in Dallas, Texas, Embrey supports human rights work, with a focus on women.
Fred Eychaner
The Illinois-based Eychaner founded the Newsweb Corporation and gives through the Alphawood Foundation. He’s a prominent supporter of LGBTQ causes as well as a major Democratic donor.
Tim Gill
An early tech winner with Quark, Gill went on to become one of the top LBGTQ philanthropists of recent times and is still going strong with the Gill Foundation.
Lisa and Douglas Goldman
Douglas Goldman is a grandson of early Levi Strauss Company president Walter Haas. Along with wife Lisa, Goldman supports progressive think tanks and advocacy through the Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund. The Bay Area is a priority.
Jeremy Grantham
The British investor and asset manager funds environmental advocacy groups—most of them big-name—through his Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment.
Eileen Rockefeller Growald and Paul Growald
These Democratic donors give through the Growald Family Fund, which uses a venture philanthropy approach to support new groups working across the world on climate and sustainable energy.
Agnes Gund
Agnes Gund gives through the AG Foundation, which disbursed around $22.8 million in a recent year. She is a prominent arts patron, collector of modern and contemporary art, and arts education and social justice advocate. She’s also the donor behind the Art for Justice Fund.
Louise Gund
Louise Gund is an heir to the Gund family fortune and sister to prominent liberal philanthropist Agnes Gund. She’s a frequent Democratic donor and backs environmental groups like Earthjustice.
Nick and Leslie Hanauer
Seattle-based tech investor Nick Hanauer and venture capitalist Leslie Hanauer support environmental, education and gun control causes.
Chris Hughes
A co-founder of Facebook and one-time owner of the New Republic, Hughes prioritizes economic opportunity, LGBTQ rights and global health in his giving.
Blair Hull
A successful investor, Hull sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2004, a primary race he lost to a rising Barack Obama. Through the Hull Family Foundation, he supports causes like reproductive rights and drug policy reform.
Megan Hull
Like her father Blair Hull, Megan Hull is a Democratic donor who also helps lead the Hull Family Foundation in its progressive grantmaking.
Leah Hunt-Hendrix
A granddaughter of oil baron H.L. Hunt, Hunt-Hendrix is an important next-gen figure in progressive donor organizing, bringing her Occupy Wall Street experience to bear as a founder of Solidaire and Way to Win.
Laurene Powell Jobs
Following husband Steve Jobs’ death, Laurene Powell Jobs has pursued interests in education, immigration and the environment via the Emerson Collective.
Michael Jordan
The NBA legend once had a foundation, but it dissolved in the 1990s. His grantmaking is picking back up again lately and prioritizes civil rights and community work.
Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg
Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg back health-related issues, particularly AIDS, and organizations that work on behalf of children.
Seth and Beth Klarman
The Klarmans fund social justice and Jewish causes in Boston and throughout the U.S., as well as internationally.
Kaitlyn and Mike Krieger
Instagram co-founder Mike and wife Kaitlyn are interested in criminal justice reform, as well as U.S. policy, science and global health and development. They give through the Future Justice Fund.
Norman and Lyn Lear
A longtime television writer and producer, Norman Lear and wife Lyn are committed progressive activists. Norman Lear co-founded People for the American Way, and the Lear Family Foundation frequently supports progressive advocacy, including for the environment.
Sunita Leeds
Sunita Leeds gives through the Enfranchisement Foundation, a D.C.-based progressive grantmaker. She is on the Democracy Alliance board and has also held leadership roles in Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Party itself.
Joshua Mailman
The son of New York investor Joseph P. Mailman, Joshua Mailman is a longtime impact investor who gives through the Joshua Mailman Foundation. He’s also a donor organizer who helped found what is now the Threshold Foundation.
Winsome McIntosh
McIntosh has headed the environment-focused McIntosh Foundation since her husband Michael passed away in 2015. In addition to green mainstays like the NDRC and Greenpeace, the foundation backs progressive advocacy groups like the Alliance for Justice. McIntosh helped found Rachel’s Network.
Barbara Meyer
Meyer utilized an inherited fortune in UPS stock to found what is now the Southern Partners Fund, which supports grassroots organizing in the Southeast. Its current priorities include organizing around redistricting and the Census.
Jeremy Mindich
Mindich is an asset manager and impact investor who co-founded the progressive venture philanthropy shop Propel Capital. Prior to his career in finance, Mindich was a journalist.
Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna have pledged to give away their entire fortune during their lifetime. They give through the Open Philanthropy Project, an amalgamation of the couple’s foundation Good Ventures and GiveWell.
Kathryn and James Murdoch
Kathryn and James Murdoch launched the Quadrivium Foundation in 2013, endowing it with nearly $10 million in assets. They've set their sights on a variety of causes, most notably the environment.
Mike and Sukey Novogratz
Michael and Sukey Novogratz donate through Galaxy Gives, which takes its aim at barriers created by structural poverty, oppression, and racism. Mike Novogratz chairs the board of The Bail Project and has a strong interest in criminal justice reform.
Pierre and Pam Omidyar
The founder of eBay has a longstanding focus on global issues, such as health, education, and economic development, but also supports property rights, government transparency, and technology. Omidyar is a major media funder and has recently begun backing worker power.
Chang K. Park
The CEO of Universal Remote Control, Inc., Park gives through the eponymous Chang K. Park Foundation. Grantees include Demos and the Common Cause Education Fund.
Barbara Picower
Barbara Picower founded the JPB Foundation with a fortune her late husband acquired, partially as the largest beneficiary of the Madoff investment scandal. As a philanthropist she’s been a friend to progressive nonprofits and takes an intensive personal involvement in JPB.
Drummond Pike
Pike is a longtime progressive activist whose biggest claim to fame in the world of liberal philanthropy is the Tides Foundation, which he founded in 1976. Today, Tides is an crucial fiscal sponsor, DAF sponsor and donor organizing outfit on the left.
Nicholas and Susan Pritzker
Nicholas and Susan Pritzker fund through the Libra Foundation, which has grown into a mainstay in the social justice movement space. The foundation’s grantmaking interests encompass racial justice, women’s rights, environmental justice and drug reform policy.
Regan Pritzker
The daughter of Nicholas and Susan Pritzker, Regan is following in her parents’ footsteps via the Kataly Foundation, founded in 2018 to fund social justice and racial equity work in communities most impacted by injustice.
Liesel Pritzker Simmons and Ian Simmons
As next-gen members of the wider Pritzker clan, this couple’s main funding vehicle is the Blue Haven Initiative, an impact investment shop focused on African enterprises. Pritzker Simmons and her mother Irene support similar causes through the IDP Foundation.
Jeff Raikes
A former Microsoft executive and CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Raikes’ own giving through the Raikes Foundation prioritizes educational equity, combating youth homelessness and philanthropic field-building.
William Reeves and Deborah Berger
Reeves and Berger tapped a financial fortune to found Unbound Philanthropy, an under-the-radar grantmaking organization with a tight focus on immigrant, migrant and refugee rights.
Fran and Charles Rodgers
Fran Sussner Rodgers founded WFD Consulting, which she led for many years alongside her husband Charles. Together they established the New Community Fund, which supports progressive infrastructure groups. Fran Rodgers is Vice Chair at the Democracy Alliance.
Vincent Ryan and Carla Meyer
Ryan is an investor and businessman who gives through the Schooner Foundation. Abroad, the foundation backs peace and security efforts, economic opportunity and human rights. At home, interests include progressive media, the environment and judicial reform.
Deborah Sagner
Sagner heads the Sagner Family Foundation, which supports progressive advocacy and movement groups, both nationally and in its home region of New York. Sagner has donated to the Movement for Black Lives.
James Sandler
Sandler is a trustee of the Sandler Foundation, founded by his late parents Herb and Marion. Alongside his sister Susan, Sandler continues to bankroll progressive organizations.
Susan Sandler
The daughter of late left-leaning philanthropists Herb and Marion Sandler, Susan Sandler has followed in their footsteps while also charting a course that more heavily favors racial justice movement building. She is married to author and progressive thought leader Steve Phillips.
Roger Sant
AES Corporation founder Roger Sant gives to support urban sustainability and women and girls’ rights through the Summit Foundation.
Hans Schöepflin
Through the Panta Rhea Foundation, this investor has supported numerous liberal and progressive causes along with his wife Lisl. They include the environment; youth, arts, and education; corporate and market campaigns; and alternative media.
MacKenzie Scott
Scott’s divorce from Jeff Bezos secured her a fortune in Amazon stock that placed her among the world’s very richest. Beginning in 2019, she began quietly giving to a variety of progressive causes and signed the Giving Pledge the following year. Scott has now fully emerged as one of the nonprofit left’s most deep-pocketed allies.
Eric and Wendy Schmidt
The former Google CEO has long pursued philanthropic interests that weren’t particularly progressive, with the exception of some environmental grants. Recently, Eric and Wendy Schmidt have taken steps in a progressive direction, including toward racial justice movement funding.
Andrew Shechtel
Shechtel is a hedge fund manager and one of three billionaires behind the publicity-shy Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, a font of liberal money. He also funds Jewish causes through the Ricky and Andrew J. Shechtel Philanthropic Fund.
Stephen M. Silberstein
This early tech entrepreneur gives in a variety of areas, including progressive policy, education, libraries, and arts.
Liz Simons and Mark Heising
This couple gives through the eponymous Heising-Simons Foundation, which boasts a climate and clean energy program, and a human rights program centered on countering the structural racism of mass incarceration and immigrant detention.
Nathaniel Simons
The son of Renaissance Technologies co-founder James Simons, Nat Simons moves money through the Sea Change Foundation. Interests include climate change mitigation and clean energy.
Jeff Skoll
The eBay billionaire has largely focused his strategy on investing in social entrepreneurs, but also engages in grantmaking on a wide array of global issues. Beneficiaries include environmental policy organizations.
John and Susan Sobrato
The Bay Area real estate billionaires (and their children) are familiar faces in the regional philanthropy scene. Recently, they’ve dipped into progressive giving with a COVID response fund to benefit undocumented immigrants and some racial justice movement funding.
Alexander Soros
The son of the famed liberal donor, Alexander Soros gives through the Alexander Soros Foundation, which gives out an annual award to activists working at the nexus of environmentalism and human rights.
George Soros
The finance billionaire and Open Society Foundations founder is a titan of progressive giving at home and abroad, having earned the gratitude of left-leaning nonprofits and the ire of the right.
Jonathan and Jennifer Soros
The Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation supports progressive causes like reproductive rights, gun violence prevention and racial justice.
Gideon Stein
Stein is the current President of the Moriah Fund, having succeeded his mother and Fund co-founder Mary Ann Stein. Moriah is a policy-oriented grantmaker with a number of program areas, including human rights, reproductive health, economic justice and Israel.
Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor
Steyer is well-known for his environmental giving, which encompasses both 501(c)(3) strategies as well as significant political funding. Advocacy money flows through NextGen America (formerly NextGen Climate).
Jon Stryker
Stryker’s Arcus Foundation has been one of the LGBTQ rights movement’s staunchest philanthropic backers. Arcus also funds conservation work in Africa and Asia.
Pat Stryker
A Democratic mega-donor, Stryker moves her philanthropy through the Bohemian Foundation, a Colorado-based regional grantmaker that also backs left-leaning national think tanks.
John Swift
A UPS heir, John Swift started the Swift Foundation in 1999. A decade later, it tripled in size as it absorbed assets from Swift’s mother’s foundation. Today, Swift is an environmental funder that predominately funds work arising from Indigenous people and their local communities.
C. Frederick Taylor
Taylor is one of three liberal billionaires who founded the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, a key funder of voter engagement initiatives, progressive think tanks and movement organizations.
Daniel and Sheryl Tishman
This family’s construction company is notable for its work on both the original World Trade Center and Freedom Tower. They fund environmental justice work through the Northlight Foundation, particularly in Alaska.
Lynde Bradley Uihlein
She may be related to some of the most prominent figures in conservative philanthropy, but this Wisconsin-based heiress has charted a different course with donations to progressive women's rights groups and Democratic political contributions.
James Walton
This scion of the Walton family co-founded Wend, a social impact fund that has gotten behind progressive causes like Black-led organizing. He’s also on the board of the Walton Family Foundation.
Marvin Weissberg
A nonagenarian real estate developer, Weissberg supports efforts to reform the justice system and empower women and people of color through the Weissberg Family Foundation.
Hansjorg Wyss
A Swiss entrepreneur and billionaire, Wyss funds environmental conservation in the U.S., with additional grants going out the door to progressive policy nonprofits and intermediaries like the New Venture Fund.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan
Facebook’s failings have tarnished Zuckerberg’s reputation for many. Nevertheless, the couple’s giving through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative trends moderately progressive, with grants for anti-poverty research and community advocacy in California.