3-year study finds MacKenzie Scott’s $19 billion in charitable giving has been ‘transformational’ for nonprofits

Over the past five years, MacKenzie Scott has given over $19 billion in unrestricted gifts to more than 2,000 organizations in her quest to spend down the billions she received as part of her divorce settlement from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Scott's philanthropy is unique in that the gifts she makes are large, unrestricted, and don’t have a specified timeframe in which they need to be spent. Her strategies have become a topic of fascination in the philanthropic world.

Now, we have more insight into the effects of Scott’s philanthropy. A new three-year study, out today from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), finds that gifting has been "transformational" for the nonprofits and other organizations that have received the funding, and that the feared negative consequences have not come to pass, at least not yet.

The report analyzes data from more than 1,000 organizations that received a gift from Scott between 2020 and early 2024, looking at the gifts’ effects on the nonprofits and foundations over a three-year period. It is the most comprehensive public accounting of Scott’s grants so far.

Some standout stats from the report: Social justice, human services, and education are the most common key focus areas for the organizations Scott gives to. Her median grant is $5 million, compared to a median of $123,000 at large organizations CEP typically studies. Most of the recipient organizations are slowly spending down the funds: Even those who received a donation from Scott in 2020 have spent just 60% of it, at the median.

The results should be inspiring for anyone who is philanthropically minded—even if they don’t have Scott’s billions to give away. It’s not about the size of the gift, she says, but about the size of the gift relative to the organization. If there is a nonprofit in your community doing well on a shoestring budget—as most have—then even a few hundred or a thousand dollars can have a profound impact.

For more information see Alicia Adamczyk and Nina Ajemian "3-year study finds MacKenzie Scott’s $19 billion in charitable giving has been ‘transformational’ for nonprofits" Yahoo News, February 18, 2025. 

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Florida Probate Attorney) for bringing this article to my attention.