Banker Denny Sanford No. 15 on Chronicle of Philanthropy list of top 50 givers for 2014

A Washington newspaper that ranks donors to nonprofit organizations says banker T. Denny Sanford made the 2014 list at No. 15.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy says Bill and Melinda Gates donated $1.5 billion in Microsoft stock to their own foundation and topped the list that included more young entrepreneurs from the technology industry.

Sanford gave another $125 million to the health system bearing his name. It went toward establishing Sanford Imagenetics, a program that aims to provide patients with genetic testing and counseling and to give internal-medicine doctors genetic information on their patients to improve care.

The 79-year-old also donated $25 million toward a partnership with the state of South Dakota that will offer scholarships to students entering high-need workforce programs at in-state technical institutes.