Taylor Swift is known for record-breaking tours and decades of hit songs. She has also given money to people and places in hard times for more than fifteen years. Her gifts have gone to towns hit by floods and tornadoes, to local food banks, to a student who needed tuition money, and to the crew members who kept her shows running. Some gifts were announced on stage. Others came out only when the people she helped spoke up. Here are ten documented examples from news reports and the organizations that received her help.
1. Helping Cedar Rapids recover after a devastating Iowa flood
In June 2008, severe flooding hit much of Iowa. Cedar Rapids was hit especially hard, and more than 18,000 residents were displaced. On August 8, 2008, Taylor Swift played a sold-out concert in the city, at the venue now called the Alliant Energy PowerHouse. The Des Moines Register reports that she gave $100,000 to the American Red Cross for flood victims. She described it as the first sold-out show the people of Cedar Rapids had seen since the flood. A Red Cross report quotes her saying, "They stood by me and now I want to stand by them." The gift came early in her career, when she was still a rising country star.
2. Giving half a million dollars after Nashville's historic flood
In May 2010, heavy rain caused major flooding across Tennessee, including in Nashville, the city where Taylor Swift built her music career. The Associated Press reported that she would give $500,000 to flood relief. Her pledge was announced during "Flood Relief with Vince Gill and Friends," a telethon on local station WSMV, and the money was to go to several flood relief organizations in the city. In an email to the AP, Swift explained the gift: "Nashville is my home, and the reason why I get to do what I love." Wikipedia's account of her philanthropy also lists the $500,000 donation after the May 2010 Tennessee floods.
3. Turning a tour rehearsal into tornado relief for Alabama
On April 27, 2011, a deadly tornado outbreak struck the South, including Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In May, Taylor Swift opened the final dress rehearsal of her Speak Now Tour to the public as a benefit concert and sent the ticket money to tornado relief. According to Nick's Kids, the charity founded by University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban and his wife, Terry, the event raised $750,000 for relief across the South. Swift gave $250,000 of it to Nick's Kids for West Alabama. The charity said it used part of that money to give $112,500 to Habitat for Humanity to build three homes for families.
4. Pledging four million dollars for music education in Nashville
In May 2012, Taylor Swift pledged $4 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville to build a new education center. The museum decided to call the new space the Taylor Swift Education Center. Museum director Kyle Young said in the announcement, "Taylor Swift represents country music's best traditions." The pledge was part of a larger campaign to expand the museum. Reports from the opening say the center opened in October 2013 with classrooms and space for hands-on learning. School groups and families come there for programs about songwriting and music.
5. Donating one million dollars to Louisiana flood victims
In August 2016, torrential rain flooded large parts of Louisiana and killed at least 11 people. Taylor Swift told the Associated Press she was giving $1 million to flood relief. She said she gave because the state was where her 1989 World Tour began. "We began The 1989 World Tour in Louisiana, and the wonderful fans there made us feel completely at home," she said in her statement. She also asked others who were able to help. Reports said $50,000 of her gift went to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, whose warehouse had been damaged in the floods.
6. Supporting Middle Tennessee families after deadly March tornadoes
On March 3, 2020, tornadoes tore through Nashville and other parts of Middle Tennessee, destroying homes and businesses. Two days later, Taylor Swift's publicist told The Tennessean that she had donated $1 million to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund, run by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. On her Instagram story, Swift wrote, "Nashville is my home," and added that the loss of so many homes in the region was devastating to her. According to her Wikipedia biography, she gave another $1 million to Tennessee tornado relief in 2023, after more storms hit the state.
7. Completing a London student's university fund
In August 2020, Vitoria Mario, a student from Tottenham in north London, had been offered a place to study mathematics at the University of Warwick. She did not qualify for government student loans, so she started a GoFundMe page to raise £40,000. Within days, a donation of £23,373 appeared under Taylor Swift's name, which brought her to her goal. The message with the gift read in part, "I want to gift you the rest of your goal amount. Good luck with everything you do! Love, Taylor." Mario later said Swift had made her dream come true.
8. Quietly helping food banks in her tour cities
When Taylor Swift's Eras Tour started in Glendale, Arizona, in March 2023, food banks near her tour stops began receiving donations from her. She did not announce the gifts. The food banks shared the news themselves. In July 2023, Food Bank of the Rockies said her gift after two concerts at Denver's Empower Field would provide about 75,000 meals. Groups including Channel One Regional Food Bank near Minneapolis and the Arizona Food Bank Network also reported receiving support. Most gift amounts were not made public. Wikipedia describes her gifts at each Eras Tour stop as equal to tens of thousands of meals.
9. Giving her tour truck drivers life-changing bonuses
In summer 2023, before her concerts at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, Taylor Swift gave each of the truck drivers who hauled her Eras Tour equipment a $100,000 bonus. CNN reported that nearly 50 drivers from the Denver trucking company Shomotion received checks. The company's founder, Michael Scherkenbach, called the bonuses life-changing. He said a typical tour bonus for drivers was much smaller. Her father, Scott Swift, handed out the checks along with handwritten letters from her. Other members of the touring crew were also reported to have received bonuses.
10. Donating five million dollars for hurricane relief
In fall 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused severe damage across the southeastern United States. Milton reached Florida as a Category 3 storm. The Associated Press reported in October 2024 that Taylor Swift had given $5 million to Feeding America for relief work in both storms' aftermath. Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Feeding America's CEO, thanked her publicly. The organization said the money would help communities rebuild and recover by providing food, clean water and supplies. The AP also noted Swift's earlier gifts to Tennessee tornado relief.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift
- https://www.aol.com/taylor-swift-era-iowa-only-112616242.html
- https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/may/07/swift-donates-500k-nashville-flood/
- https://nickskidsfoundation.org/posts/2019/03/27/taylor-swift-gift-helps-nicks-kids-extend-tornado-relief-efforts
- https://musicrow.com/2012/05/swift-pledges-4-million-for-hall-of-fames-new-education-center/
- https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/17/taylor-swift-donating-1-million-to-louisiana.html
- https://countrynow.com/taylor-swift-donates-1-million-to-tennessee-tornado-relief/
- https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/08/21/taylor-swift-donation-student-university-victoria-mario-gofundme
- https://www.capitalxtra.com/news/taylor-swift-donates-london-student-university-fund/
- https://fox11online.com/news/entertainment/not-so-cruel-summer-for-us-food-banks-as-taylor-swift-donates-at-each-eras-tour-stop-hunger-covid-19-pandemic-food-prices-inflation-eggs-speak-now-taylors-version-fearless-love-story-food-insecurity-community
- https://www.ksl.com/article/50700663
- https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/taylor-swift-5-million-donation-hurricane-relief-efforts-milton-helene
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taylor_Swift_at_the_Golden_Globes_2024_(Enhanced,_cropped)_2.jpg
