One of America's greatest philanthropists, MacKenzie Scott, is doubling down on her efforts to solve America's housing problems.
Article by Kerry A. Dolan and Phoebe Liu for Forbes US
While collecting his luggage at LaGuardia Airport security in October, Shaun Donovan picked up his phone, although the number on the screen was unknown to him. The person on the other end of the phone told him that his affordable housing association, Enterprise Community Partners, had just received $65 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The surprise is big. Certainly, the association had received a donation of $50 million from the philanthropist in 2020, which was also a surprise, but there was no indication that the association was in the process of receiving another donation.
“One of the particularities of its philanthropy is that it does not provide information on its process and its criteria”explains Shaun Donovan. Enterprise Community Partners did not seek additional funding from MacKenzie Scott, although she sent her team annual reports in the three years since the first donation. Shaun Donovan speaks about this new funding: “We are convinced that this is a demonstration of confidence in the work we have accomplished with the initial $50 million, […]. This also proves that [MacKenzie Scott] recognizes the fact that access to affordable housing has become, in many ways, the most important American political issue. »
Enterprise Community Partners is not the only group to receive a second donation from MacKenzie Scott in 2024. It has repeated several other donations, a departure from its previous strategy. Other two-time recipients include the Corporation for Supportive Housing, which received a $40 million donation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a nonprofit that also works on affordable housing ($65 million) , the Corporation for Supportive Housing ($40 million), the Nonprofit Finance Fund, which lends money and offers counseling services ($22 million), and Undue Medical Debt, which fights to end medical debt , received 30 million dollars, after another donation of $50 million in 2022.
In total, MacKenzie Scott has donated $2 billion in 2024 to 199 organizations, she announced in her annual message on Wednesday, December 18 on her Yield Giving website. According to the estimates of Forbesthis brings the total amount of donations she made during her lifetime to $19.3 billion.
MacKenzie Scott said 75% of donations went to “nonprofit organizations that support the economic security and prospects of people in difficulty by improving access to affordable housing and jobs”education, health care, low interest loans and much more.
MacKenzie Scott also highlighted a new initiative underway: She asked her team to help find solutions to some of the challenges, including affordable housing and digital health platforms focused on women. Finally, the philanthropist let major financial institutions know that she might not keep all of her fortune with them in the long term. “When I make donations, rather than withdrawing funds from a bank account or stock portfolio that increases the wealth and influence of leaders who already have them, I would like to withdraw them from a portfolio investments in companies aligned with their mission, with leaders from the populations they serve, or from generally undercapitalized groups like women and people of color »wrote MacKenzie Scott. In doing so, it would help solve the problems twice, first by promoting economic mobility for these groups, and then by providing funding to experienced teams of nonprofits who care for people and bring about change .
MacKenzie Scott, one of the world's most followed philanthropists, is also among the five most generous living donors in the United States and is one of ten members of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans who have given more than 20%. of their fortune. She is known for her rapid giving: In the five years since she received a 4% stake in Amazon during her divorce from Jeff Bezos in 2019, she has already sold or donated $255 million. of actions. Assuming she transferred almost all of those Amazon shares into donation funds, MacKenzie Scott would still own $31.8 billion, according to estimates. If she had kept all of her shares, she would be one of the 20 richest people in the world, with a fortune of nearly $87 billion.
Among the wealthy, MacKenzie Scott's approach to giving is unique. It is known for its unconditional donations to local organizations, generally unsolicited, with one exception: the $640 million it gave to 361 organizations in March as part of its open call with the organization non-profit Lever for Change.
MacKenzie Scott initially favored organizations working to combat inequalities (racial, economic and gender, among others).
A translation by Flora Lucas
Also read: How MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, got rich after donating $5.8 billion
