In a statement Wednesday detailing her latest $3.9 billion in giving, MacKenzie Scott doubled down on her commitment to equity, issuing a powerful declaration that it is the surest path to improving the lives of everyone. A Chronicle tally shows that she has given away more than $12.3 billion during the past two years.
“The trend line is clear. Communities with a habit of removing obstacles for different subsets of people tend to get better for everyone,” Scott said in a Medium post.
Recipients of Scott’s biggest recent gifts include Habitat for Humanity, Planned Parenthood, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Perhaps in response to criticisms by some conservatives for her giving to Planned Parenthood, she added, “We don’t advocate for particular policies or reforms” and “the cause of equity has no sides.”
Scott also promised to keep the dollars flowing “with steadiness and care.” She said she has made 1,257 gifts so far and that the decisions are made “through a rigorous process.” That review process apparently continues to occur with little or no input from the recipients, who describe a stunningly rapid, unsolicited, and cursory interaction with a representative of Scott’s team — maybe a couple of emails and a phone call — followed by millions of dollars promptly showing up in their bank accounts.
“Very few solutions gain universal agreement,” Scott said in her blog post. “I don’t know the best outcome of each debate, but there’s heartening evidence that supporting the capacity of all people to be heard leads to better outcomes for all.”
Scott said that about 60 percent of the recipients of her latest round of giving are groups led by women, and 75 percent are led “by people with lived experience in the regions they support and the issues they seek to address.”
Scott listed the gift recipients but did not disclose how much each had received, saying she leaves it up to them to decide whether to go public with the amounts.
Getting Personal
Scott has drawn effusive and widespread praise from nonprofits that say her trusting approach — minimal paperwork and unrestricted grants — should be replicated by other donors. She has also drawn a smattering of complaints that she should be more transparent about her giving.
In her latest posting, Scott struck a more personal tone than she has in the past. She talked about overcoming her “personal preference for privacy” by writing essays about the organizations she supports. She said she invited recipients to announce their gifts first, if desired, before she shared the information publicly.
She also defended her own shyness in dealing with the press, saying she respects “the autonomy and role of journalists by doing nothing to try to influence or control what they report.”
Scott rarely speaks to anyone in the media, and she is nearly impossible to reach, frustrating some nonprofits that would like to reach out to her for help. The Bridgespan Group, a consulting firm, has acknowledged that it works with Scott, but it serves much like a shield for her, preventing journalists and nonprofits from accessing her directly.
Scott said her team is creating a website to provide more information about her giving, although she added that it “will go live only after it reflects the preferences of every one of these nonprofit teams about how details of their gifts are shared.”
The biggest known amounts and recipients of Scott’s most recent giving include:
- $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International and 84 of its U.S. affiliates
- $281 million to the Boys & Girls Clubs America and 62 of its local chapters around the country
- $275 million to Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- $133.5 million to Communities in Schools
- $50 million gift to the National 4-H Council, a nonprofit that supports the Department of Agriculture’s 4-H Youth Development Program
- $25 million to the Collaborative for Gender and Reproductive Equity for its efforts to advance gender, reproductive, and racial equity
- $20 million to the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
- $20 million to the early-literacy group Reading Partners
