In what has become MacKenzie Scott’s annual year-end summary of her giving, the maverick philanthropist on Wednesday reported on her gifts in 2024 — more than $2 billion to 199 organizations — and signaled new wrinkles in her philanthropy.
Altogether, Scott has now given away more than $19 billion since she first jumped into major philanthropy five years ago. More than 30 of this year’s gifts represent her second donation to the nonprofit, until now a rare double blessing. Before this year, Scott had made multiple gifts to only 13 organizations since 2019, according to the Yield Giving website.
Indeed, her largest gifts this year — $65 million each — went to two groups that previously received $40 million from Scott: Enterprise Community Partners and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, national organizations that promote economic opportunity.
In her announcement, Scott also said that she is beginning to pursue investing her wealth in for-profit companies and funds seeking solutions to societal challenges in housing, health, and other areas. She described seeking out “mission-aligned ventures with leaders from the populations they are serving or from generally undercapitalized groups like women and people of color.”
“In this way,” she added, “the money can help address these issues twice, first by advancing economic mobility and unlocking the innovation and social benefit that comes from incorporating diverse needs and perspectives in the world being constructed around us, and next in the hands of experienced nonprofit teams creating value through their transformative models of care and change.”
Much of Scott’s wealth comes from ownership of stock in Amazon, which her ex-husband Jeff Bezos founded. But she has sold off 255 million shares in recent years, worth $37 billion, according to Forbes.
Scott has won praise for awarding large, no-strings-attached gifts to groups often ignored by major philanthropy. She’s also focused a good bit of giving on the South, a region without significant philanthropic resources.
Undue Medical Debt and CAMFED International are the only organizations to date to receive three Scott gifts. She gave Undue $50 million in 2024, following two previous donations totaling $80 million. CAMFED received $500,000, the smallest of Scott’s gifts this year. Scott’s earlier two gifts to the group totaled $45 million.
New two-time recipients include: Grameen America ($75 million), which helps small-business entrepreneurs who are women, and Hope Enterprise Corporation ($35 million), which works with disadvantaged communities in the South.
Groups report that multiple Scott gifts have created once-unthinkable opportunities. UpTogether, an antipoverty organization formerly known as the Family Independence Initiative, received gifts totaling almost $50 million in 2020 and 2021. The organization invested some of the money in technology and data analytics. It also created a position focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion and has built partnerships with several state governments to further expand its reach.
“It’s a luxury to have a cushion of dollars,” CEO Jesús Gerena told the Chronicle earlier this year. “You can do this research and design or experiment in ways that could really help impact and leapfrog components of your mission. “
