MacKenzie Scott has given large, unrestricted gifts to more than 2,450 nonprofits over the past six years. The 54-year-old donated over $2 billion in 2024 alone, bringing her total gifts to $19.2 billion since 2019.
Now, a new three-year analysis from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) finds that Scott’s no-strings-attached gifts, with a median size of $5 million, have had a “transformative effect” on nonprofits by helping them expand their impact and become more financially stable.
CEP released the research earlier this month after surveying over 800 organizations that received donations from Scott from June to July 2024.
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The overwhelming majority of nonprofit leaders, 93%, reported that Scott’s grant moderately or significantly strengthened their ability to carry out their mission. Most, 90%, said the gift bolstered their financial positions, while more than 60% said they used the grant to establish credibility with other funders.
The grants have also expanded nonprofits’ operating budgets and have helped them provide more of an impact on their communities while also improving their own employee’s well-being, the study notes.
The nonprofit Kaboom!, for example, builds playgrounds in areas that lack them. Scott donated $14 million to the organization in 2021, and more than doubled its annual operating budget.
After receiving a $9 million donation from Scott in 2020, the South Texas Food Bank nearly doubled the food it distributed — 14 million pounds in 2019 to 26 million in 2020. South Texas Food Bank CEO Alma Boubel told USA Today that the donation allowed the food bank to sustain distributing around 20 million pounds of food each year from 2021 to 2024 and provide its 42-person staff with free healthcare.
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Overall, Scott’s gifts have enabled 85% of nonprofit recipients to improve or expand their programming and given 52% a greater capacity to respond to the needs of the communities they serve, the study found.
“Few funders have the resources to give at the level that MacKenzie Scott is giving, but every funder can learn from her fascinating approach,” Phil Buchanan, president of CEP, stated in a press release.
MacKenzie Bezos. Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for J/P HRO Gala
Nonprofit tax filings also reflected the impact of Scott’s contributions. The organizations that received awards from Scott had double the amount of cash reserves than comparable nonprofits.
Scott selected these nonprofits based on “quiet research,” or a discreet vetting process that carefully analyzed the organizations according to their size, mission, and track records. Some key focus areas of the grant recipients were human services (44%), education (41%), and health (35%). Recipients of the gifts can allocate the funds as they desire without input from Scott.
Still, some nonprofit leaders have identified drawbacks to Scott’s approach.
More than half (53%) were concerned that other funders might withdraw their support because they’d feel recipients didn’t need additional funding. More than 60% reported being afraid the grant would create a funding cliff, or decreased long-term funding.
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The nonprofits Scott contributed to were, on average, larger than the norm with a median budget of $7 million. According to the National Council of Nonprofits, 88% of nonprofits have a budget of less than $500,000 per year. Scott also gave gift recipients more than expected, the CEP found. Compared to the median grant size tracked by the center of $123,000 among nonprofits as a whole, Scott’s contributions ranged from $300,000 to $80 million.
Scott’s wealth originates from the shares in Amazon she received after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019. Scott signed the Giving Pledge that year, writing that she had “a disproportionate amount of money to share” and would keep donating “until the safe is empty.”
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Scott is worth around $40.2 billion and is the 41st richest person in the world.
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