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 between the summer of 2020 and the summer of 2021 as well as in-depth interviews with a subset of these leaders.

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.