Where can you get a list of philanthropists willing to give to individuals today?

There is a list of notable philanthropists on Wikipedia under wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_philanthropists, but it won't list which ones are willing to give to individuals. Although these people are known because they are famous, there is no national registry for philanthropy. People just give to causes that they feel strongly about, and they usually give to a charitable organization rather than to individuals specifically because they don't want to get scammed. Many people will give to individuals that they know personally in at least a cursory way... a homeless person they walk by on the street every day for instance.

If you need help improving your life or paying your bills, approaching a charitable institution like a church might be more productive than an individual philanthropist, especially a famous one. They likely get such requests a lot and screen them strictly. If you need money to fund a project, describing your project on a site like kickstarter could also be a good approach, because if people think your idea is good, they can crowdfund it, which takes the burden off of one individual and everyone together helps make good ideas happen.