Five End-of-Year Charity Lessons from MacKenzie
In an annual display of generous benevolence, tycoon MacKenzie Scott recently disclosed in a publication on her Yield Giving portal that she donated an impressive $2 billion to 199 charitable organizations in 2024.
Scott's charitable endeavors have soared to an astounding $19.2 billion over the past five years since she pledged to distribute her wealth through the Giving Pledge and vowed to continue giving until her resources have been depleted. (The Giving Pledge is a client of Fireside Strategy.)
The generosity of Scott now positions her among the top five most charitable billionaires in the United States, ranking just behind Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, George Soros, and Michael Bloomberg in terms of lifetime contributions. This most recent donation might even move her into fourth place in 2025.
Scott, previously linked to Jeff Bezos and receiving a 4% stake in Amazon during their 2019 split, has been widely lauded for the expeditious and extensive nature of her philanthropic efforts. Beyond applause, she is also gaining recognition as a trailblazer and inspiration for effective philanthropy.
Scott's philanthropy offers valuable lessons not only for billionaires looking to emulate her giving approach but also for everyday donors and investors considering year-end decisions.
This comprises five pertinent lessons drawn from Scott's strategies:
Explore Creative Ways to Initiate Change
A fascinating facet of Scott's recent announcement is her adoption of a novel method to utilize her wealth to impact positive change globally. In addition to granting unrestricted funds to nonprofit organizations, Scott asked her investment team to source funds and businesses focused on commercial solutions to these challenges.
Instead of maintaining a "stock portfolio that increases the wealth and influence of leaders who already have it," Scott explained, "I'd like to withdraw them from a portfolio of investments in mission-aligned ventures, with leaders from the populations they are serving, or from generally undercapitalized groups like women and people of color."
Scott's statement is a powerful endorsement of the growing trend in philanthropy encouraging individuals and foundations to invest their wealth in for-profits that are working towards social transformation, alongside their typical grantmaking missions.
"When a foundation invests its endowment in line with its values," says Dana Lanza, co-founder and CEO of Confluence Philanthropy, which encourages charitable organizations to balance their mission to generate social or environmental impact with their investment strategy, "it can significantly amplify its positive impact without sacrificing financial returns."
"Unfortunately," she adds, "the sector is still lagging behind in catalyzing the trillions of dollars in philanthropic endowments towards values-aligned investments. Mackenzie Scott has lifted the standards for the sector as a whole."
Give Now and Continue Giving
When Scott signed the Giving Pledge, she acknowledged that "tremendous value comes when people act quickly on the impulse to give." She has lived up to this commitment by donating an average of nearly $4 billion annually over the last five years. Her swiftness sets her apart from the traditional norm of many affluent individuals and foundations to give modest amounts each year to maintain their giving capacity for decades or even in perpetuity.
Interestingly, Scott's generosity has not diminished her capacity to continue giving for years to come. Her net worth stood at $31.5 billion on December 19, as per the Real-Time Billionaires List on the Our Website.
Give Broadly and Provide Substantial Support
In the philanthropic sector, particularly for high-net-worth individuals, a prevalent question is whether it is more beneficial to give several very large gifts to well-established institutions or distribute numerous smaller grants to lesser-known organizations.
Scott has demonstrated that it is indeed possible to achieve a balance. In addition to the 199 organizations that Scott announced as recipients of her most recent gift, she partnered with Lever for Change early in the year to conduct an open call for funding, which resulted in $640 million in grants to 361 recipients – bringing her total giving for the year to $2.6 billion disbursed to 597 organizations. (Lever for Change is a client of Fireside Strategy.)
Even when Scott makes relatively modest gifts (compared to her own standards) of $1 million or $2 million, they frequently go to smaller organizations, making the grants a substantial portion of their overall budgets.
Seek Guidance from Knowledgeable Advisors
A common misconception about MacKenzie Scott's philanthropy is that she makes all her charitable decisions alone – and, indeed, this perceived independent approach has contributed to her ability to act swiftly.
While it's true that Scott does not have a traditional foundation or a large team of grantmakers, she seeks and benefits from valuable strategic advice from a team of smart and trusted philanthropic consultants.
Though Scott has never publicly identified her advisors or mentioned them on her website, reports suggest that she collaborates with consultants from the Bridgespan Group on her philanthropic initiatives.
In her recent announcement, Scott acknowledged her team who helped identify and upload the details of her grants to her website, as well as the "investment team" managing the funds she is giving away.
"I'm grateful to these non-profit organizations," she said, "to these funds and companies, and to the people helping me distribute these assets." She expressed her inspiration by witnessing "the ways people invest in each other."
Back in the initial phase of her philanthropic endeavors, Scott faced flak for her lack of openness. She'd release a blog post every now and then, revealing her recent grant recipients, but that was pretty much it when it came to sharing information.
Recognizing the value in transparency, Scott decided to act in 2022. She introduced a fully functional search platform named YieldGiving.com. The site's main attraction is a database that publicly displays details such as the name, location, focus zone, and (with the grantee's consent) the amount of all 2,524 grants Scott has provided since 2020.
The platform has turned out to be a game-changer for researchers seeking to identify tendencies and patterns in Scott's generous contributions. But it's not just for academic types – it's also a fantastic resource for anyone looking to support honorable nonprofits, as they've been backed by one of the nation's most magnanimous philanthropists.
Mackenzie Scott's philanthropy advisors from the Bridgespan Group have played a crucial role in providing strategic guidance for her charitable ventures, enabling her to act swiftly and effectively.
Mackenzie Scott's Yield Giving portal, a transparency initiative, now offers a comprehensive database of all her 2,524 grants, providing valuable insights for researchers and individuals seeking to support worthy causes, as she continues to distribute her wealth through philanthropy.
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