Billionaire philanthropist and Amazon co-founder MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday that she has donated another $640 million of her fortune to hundreds of nonprofit organizations.
Scott has already given billions to charity, but she changed her approach slightly for this most recent round of donations. For the first time, she set up an open call for nonprofits to directly apply for a gift through her organization, Yield Giving. In the past, her organization had participated in "quiet research," which involved privately and anonymously finding deserving organizations and secretly contacting them.
The open call had over 6,000 applicants, from which 361 organizations from 38 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico were selected "for their outstanding work advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means, and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles," Scott said in a statement.
Yield Giving had originally planned to grant $1 million in gifts to 250 organizations when the initiative was announced last year. But, because of the impressive applications they got, evaluators decided to expand the awardee pool and how much they would receive: 279 organizations were gifted $2 million each, while 82 others were given $1 million each, Yield Giving said.
"The Open Call awardees are all making positive change in their communities by reducing disparities in economic outcomes, education, health, and other critical issues," the organization said.
Scott, one of the wealthiest women globally, possesses a net worth of approximately $35 billion, as reported by Forbes. Following her divorce from Jeff Bezos in 2019, Scott acquired a 4% stake in the company, significantly elevating her personal wealth. She pledged the majority of her riches to society by signing the Giving Pledge that same year.
In the previous year, Scott generously donated over $2 billion to 360 organizations, expressing in a brief post on Yield Giving's website her admiration for the collaborative efforts of individuals in providing goodwill and support to one another.
Scott's philanthropic endeavors primarily target causes such as education, the arts, public health, and diversity. Some of the recipients of her open call grants include ACLU of Alabama, Black Girl Ventures, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, and Ser Familia.
