milliondollarlist.org

What It Is

Million Dollar List is a public charitable-giving database compiled by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. It tracks publicly announced donations of USD 1 million or more since 2000. Rather than a typical marketing or SEO tool, it is better understood as a resource for nonprofit fundraising, philanthropy research, and analysis of high-net-worth giving behavior.

Core Features and Data

The site provides a searchable database covering donor characteristics, gift amounts, donor and recipient locations, philanthropic subsectors, and some descriptive information. Users can filter by geography, amount, charitable category, donor, and nonprofit organization name, and can view interactive charts, maps, and visualized data. According to the Fact Sheet, it covers around 70,000 publicly reported gifts of USD 1 million or more. The data comes from donor/organization self-reporting, media reports, and other public sources, then is researched and organized by the school.

Pricing and Support

The resource used to be subscription-based, but became a free online resource in 2011. The current text clearly states that it is available online for free and does not require a subscription. For support, the site provides a phone number, 317-274-4200, and an email contact for requesting information in accessible formats. It also lists social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. However, there is no visible mention of an API, CRM integrations, bulk commercial data access, or customer success services.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are that it is free, public, large in scale, and maintained by an academic philanthropy research institution. It is useful for observing major-gift trends, peer giving patterns, and potential funding gaps. For nonprofits, it can help identify comparable recipient organizations, understand funding flows, and support more strategic fundraising conversations. Its limitations are also clear: the site states that it is not a complete record of all gifts above USD 1 million, and because the data depends on public reporting and self-reporting, some gifts may be missing. In addition, it does not provide standard SEO or marketing metrics such as keywords, traffic, backlinks, or ad-spend data.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is best suited to fundraising teams, foundations, philanthropy consultants, researchers, university advancement offices, and organizations interested in the U.S. major-giving landscape. For Chinese teams researching overseas nonprofit fundraising or giving trends among high-net-worth individuals, it can serve as a useful reference data source. If the goal is SEO growth, ad optimization, or B2B lead generation, a dedicated SEO or marketing platform would be a better choice. The text does not provide information on access from mainland China, nor does it mention payment methods. Since the resource is free, the payment barrier is low.