MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and author, had pledged last year to donate $1 million to 250 organizations through an “open call” for applications. On Tuesday, she announced she would instead give $640 million to 361 organizations.
That means her organization Yield Giving’s first round of donations is more than double what Scott initially pledged in response to requests from nonprofits. Since she started giving away billions in 2019, Scott and her team have vetted and selected organizations with no sign-up process and given them large, unlimited gifts.
In a short note on her website, Scott wrote that she was grateful to Lever for Change, the organization that managed the ‘open call’, and the assessors for ‘their role in creating this pathway to support people working to improve access to basic resources. in their communities. They are essential agents of change.”
About 6,353 nonprofits applied for the $1 million grant when applications opened.
“In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team has decided to expand the winner pool and prize amount,” said Lever for Change, which specializes in delivering philanthropic awards.
The 279 nonprofits that received top scores from an external review panel received $2 million, while 82 organizations in a second tier received $1 million each.
The “open call” solicited applications from community-led nonprofits with missions “to advance the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means,” Yield Giving said on its website. Only nonprofits with an annual budget between $1 and $5 million were eligible to apply.
“In a world full of potential and talent, the Open Call has given us the opportunity to identify, amplify and strengthen transformative organizations that often go unseen,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change, in a statement.
The winners were selected through a multi-tiered process, where applicants assessed fellow applicants and then the top organizations were assessed by a panel of external experts.
Scott has given away $16.5 billion of the fortune she amassed after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Initially, she announced the gifts in online blog posts, sometimes naming the organizations and sometimes not. In December 2022, she launched a database of her donations, called Yield Giving.
In an essay reflecting on the website, she wrote, “Information from other people—other givers, my team, the nonprofit teams I’ve given to—has been tremendously helpful to me. If more information about these gifts could be helpful to anyone, I would be happy to share it.”
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