Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a hefty charitable donation this holiday season. The 28-year-old entrepreneur, who pledged two years ago to give away at least half of his wealth to charity, has gifted 18 million shares of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation — a non-profit that helps donors find charitable places to put their money.

In a Facebook status update yesterday Zuckerberg explained how outsourcing the donation works:

Two years ago, Priscilla and I signed The Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of the money we earn to charity.

Our first major project has been around education reform with Startup: Education in Newark, NJ. I'm really proud of the work we've done there, helping leaders like Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Cory Booker sign the most progressive teachers contract in our country, opening four new district high schools, 11 new charter schools and more.

Today, in order to lay the foundation for new projects, we've made a contribution of 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Together, we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next. I'm hopeful we'll be able to have as positive an impact in our next set of projects.

Zuckerberg didn't name which projects the money will go to specifically, but according to the Mountain View-based foundation's mission statement, the group invests funds entrusted to them with the goal of "advancing innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems" in Silicon Valley and around the world.

The donation marks Mark's largest charitable gift to date. The accompanying status update, meanwhile, garnered nearly 200,000 "likes" and about 150 comments suggesting worthy causes for the money. At least one user chimed in to accuse the CEO of using the gift as a PR move in the wake of that whole Instagram mess.

Previously: All Mark Zuckerberg coverage on SFist