MacKenzie Scott Gives Unrestricted Millions to Sphinx, Dance Theater of Harlem, Others

MacKenzie Scott, currently the nation’s most generous and influential philanthropist, has announced a new round of grants totaling $2.74bn to 286 organizations—among them major universities, distinguished arts groups, and nonprofits working to combat racial injustice and domestic violence. Grants revealed by their recipients thus far range from $2 million to $40 million.

Scott, who vowed to give her fortune away “until the safe is empty” after her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has now given more than $8bn during the past eleven months. Previous recipients received awards in July and December of 2020. Ironically, it seems she can’t give money away fast enough: her fortune, worth $36bn when she divorced, is now valued at $60bn due to the rise in Amazon’s stock price.

Announcing the awards in a blog post, Scott acknowledged, “We are all attempting to give away a fortune that was enabled by systems in need of change. In this effort,” she continued, “we are governed by a humbling belief that it would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands, and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others.” Admitting that “we still have a lot to learn about how to act on these beliefs,” she argues “that we can begin by acknowledging that people working to build power from within communities are the agents of change.”

Recipients of the awards, which include the Sphinx Organization, Dance Theater of Harlem ($10mn), and the University of Texas at Austin ($40mn), are listed at the bottom of her post. The respective amounts are not.

Scott’s method of giving is, to say the least, unconventional. Although her net worth exceeds the endowment of the largest charity in the world—The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—she has resisted any kind of formal structure.

There is no method by which nonprofits can apply, and most recipients first learn that they might receive funds when approached by the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit consulting firm. Recipients are sworn to silence until Scott posts her blog announcing the awards. Many of the contributions are made through a donor-advised fund, which helps her protect her tightly guarded privacy.

No strings attached

Unlike the vast majority of philanthropic giving, Scott’s gifts are not restricted to specific projects. “Because we believe that teams with experience on the front lines of challenges will know best how to put the money to good use,” she says, “we encouraged them to spend it however they choose.”

While no one denies Scott’s generosity, some philanthropy “experts” want her to be more transparent. “A philanthropist owes it to the public to explain how and why they came to their decisions,” claims Maribel Morey, founding executive director of the Miami Institute for the Social Sciences. “It’s really critical for any philanthropist to address the inequities of how their wealth was created,” Morey continued. “If you want to have a leading voice in addressing inequality, you have to address Amazon’s profit maximization in the private sector.”

David Callahan, founder of the website Inside Philanthropy, added that Scott’s lack of interest in the policy-making that emanates from think tanks and research institutes betrays “an incomplete understanding of how change happens in this country. Change happens from the bottom up, and also the top down.”

While both Morey and Callahan raise legitimate questions, they seem a bit premature given that Scott’s philanthropy is in its infancy. No doubt circumstances will force a bit more organization as she continues to “empty the safe.” In the meantime, she is making transformative gifts to a great many important nonprofit organizations. For the time being, shouldn’t that be enough?

The New York Times