GIVING BIG:
The Impact of Large, Unrestricted Gifts on Nonprofits
Results from Year One of a Three-Year Study of MacKenzie Scott’s Giving
What is this research project?
The giving approach of MacKenzie Scott presents a unique opportunity to examine what happens when hundreds of nonprofits receive large, unrestricted gifts accompanied by few reporting requirements. How do they use the money—and what does that tell us about what nonprofits have most difficulty fundraising for? What is different as a result of these gifts?
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) seeks to understand what choices these organizations made after receiving these gifts, how they believe their trajectory changed because they received this gift, and what the positive (as well as, if relevant, potential unintended negative effects) of these gifts may have been on the recipient organizations. CEP will conduct a longitudinal mixed-methods research project using quantitative and qualitative survey data collected from leaders of nonprofit organizations that received a gift from Scott and Jewett between the summer of 2020 and the summer of 2021 as well as in-depth interviews with a subset of these leaders.
Project timeline
CEP plans to publish at least one report in each of the study’s three years from 2022 and 2024. We seek to share lessons learned that both foundations and individual donors can keep in mind for their own future giving, and we believe the findings will also hold lessons for nonprofits that may receive large, unrestricted gifts in the future.
Sample development will take place in only year one of the study, while the other phases would take place in years one, two, and three. The first report is scheduled to be released in Fall 2022.
Advisory Group
-
Ava Willis-Barksdale
Vice President, Advancement
Executive Director, Lincoln University Foundation of PA
Lincoln University - Ramsey Alwin
President & CEO
National Council on Aging - Yvonne Belanger
Director of Learning & Evaluation
Barr Foundation - Brita Blesi
Evaluation Officer
Houston Endowment - Chris Cardona
Senior Program Officer
Philanthropy
Ford Foundation - Elizabeth Christopherson
President & CEO
Rita Allen Foundation - Matthew Forti
Managing Director
One Acre Fund USA - Pam Foster
Chief Operating Officer
Co-Impact - Sampriti Ganguli
Senior Advisor
Arabella Advisors - Shivani Garg Patel
Chief Strategy Officer
Skoll Foundation - Tim Garvin
President & CEO
United Way of Central Massachusetts - Stephanie Gillis
Director, Impact-Driven Philanthropy Initiative
Raikes Foundation
- Kathara Green
Chief of Staff
Skoll Foundation
- Bob Hughes
Former CEO
Missouri Foundation for Health
- Carol Karutu
Vice President of Programs
END Fund - Shaheen Kassim-Lakha
Director
Strategic Partnerships
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation - Ruth Levine
CEO
IDinsight - Vanessa McDowell
CEO
YWCA Madison - Michelle Ramos
Executive Director
Alternate Roots - Lysa Ratliff
CEO
KABOOM! - Billy Shore
Executive Chair
Share Our Strength - Jehan Velji
Director
Effective Philanthropy Group
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation - Marcus Walton
President & CEO
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations - Melanie Willingham-Jaggers
Executive Director
GLSEN
CEP acknowledges that it has been a beneficiary of MacKenzie Scott’s giving, having received a grant in 2021. CEP has no expectation of receiving further funding from Scott. This project will not be funded in any part by Scott’s grant. CEP has informed Scott’s family office about this project. CEP has decades of experience conducting rigorous research in the sector and will share drafts of survey instruments and reports with the study’s diverse advisory group to obtain a variety of perspectives on the approach and interpretation of data to guard against any potential biases, whatever they may be.