Research Shows MacKenzie Scott’s Large, Unrestricted Gifts Create Sustained Impact for Nonprofits and Communities

In the final report in a three-year study, nonprofits report continued positive impact of Scott’s gifts and improved financial stability.

Media Contact: Chloe Heskett, Senior Editor, Writer, and Content Strategist, Programming and External Relations, CEP | chloeh@cep.org | 617-395-4092

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., February 18 — A new report released today by The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) provides evidence that MacKenzie Scott’s large, unrestricted gifts — a departure from prevailing philanthropic norms — have helped strengthen nonprofits’ financial stability and increased their community impact, even as there are mixed views of her giving among foundation leaders. 

The report, which analyzes survey responses from hundreds of nonprofit and foundation leaders, finds that nonprofit recipients of Scott’s gifts are using grant funds to ensure long-term financial stability and few anticipate heightened challenge following use of the funds, often referred to as a “financial cliff.” Many organizations are also able to demonstrate meaningful change created for the communities they serve, and nonprofit leaders report increased confidence, reduced burnout, and greater capacity for innovation. 

When asked, foundation leaders identified both benefits and drawbacks to Scott’s giving, primarily funding cliffs and difficulty fundraising after receiving a Scott gift. In CEP’s three-year study, these negative consequences have not materialized. Only 7 percent of foundation leaders report that their approach has been particularly influenced by Scott’s grantmaking. 

“There is much to learn from the experiences of nonprofits who received grants using Scott’s approach,” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, vice president, Research, at CEP. “These organizations have managed large gifts in strategic ways that have impacted thousands of lives – whether doubling or tripling the number of individuals receiving food from food banks, or increasing the number of houses being built in towns across the country, or countless other examples. Investing in organizations and leaders that are doing amazing work can have huge impacts on communities.” 

In just five years, Scott — who acquired her personal wealth when she and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos divorced — has given $19 billion in no-strings-attached support to more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations. While the size of her gifts is unique, Scott’s approach — grants with few reporting requirements and no time limits on when the funds should be spent — is also uncommon in philanthropy. Indeed, Scott’s no-strings approach has prompted skepticism and concern from some foundation leaders since she began giving in 2019, with many expressing doubt about the ability of nonprofits receiving large gifts to use the grants strategically.  

CEP set out to study the impact of Scott’s approach so other funders could learn from its effects. The report released today, “Breaking the Mold: The Transformative Effect of MacKenzie Scott’s Big Gifts,” is the third and final report in a three-year research study into the experiences of nonprofit organizations that received gifts through Scott’s “quiet vetting” process. It analyzes survey responses from 813 nonprofit leaders and 243 foundation leaders, as well as financial data from 2019-2023 U.S. tax filings (Form 990s) from more than 1,000 organizations, including both Scott grant recipients and comparable nonprofits that did not receive a grant.  

The report is, to CEP’s knowledge, the most comprehensive public accounting of the experiences of the organizations that received grants from Scott. Key findings include: 

Financial Health and Organizational Sustainability 

• Nonprofits are using Scott’s gifts to ensure their long-term sustainability, and few anticipate the financial cliff that some funders warned about. 

• Nearly 90 percent of leaders report that the grant has moderately or significantly strengthened their organization’s long-term financial sustainability. 

• Nonprofit leaders overwhelmingly indicate that they plan to stretch grant funds over multiple years, to sustain the organization in the long term. 

• Data from the organizations’ 990s show that grant recipients have twice as many months of operating expenses in reserves two years after receiving the grant than other comparable nonprofits. 

• Just 7 percent of nonprofit recipients anticipate significant difficulty covering ongoing costs of grant-funded initiatives. 

Community Impact

• Communities have benefitted from the cascading effects of nonprofits expanding their programs and strengthening their organizations internally.  

• 93 percent of leaders report that this grant has moderately or significantly strengthened their organization’s ability to achieve its mission.  

• Nearly every leader put some of Scott’s funds toward their programs, and most say their efforts funded by the grant have allowed them to expand existing programs and engage in new programs. 

• Nearly 90 percent report that the gift has strengthened the fields and communities in which they seek to have impact. 

Strengthening Nonprofit Leaders 

• Leaders report Scott’s gifts increased their confidence in their own leadership, reduced their burnout, and sparked innovation. 

• Nearly 80 percent of leaders report that the Scott grant has increased their confidence in their own leadership – particularly among leaders who identify as people of color. 

• More than a third of leaders indicate that receiving a Scott grant reduced their level of burnout. 

• Nearly 40 percent of leaders intend to stay in their current role for a longer period of time. 

• More than 40 percent of leaders indicate the grant has improved internal morale and organizational culture. 

Mixed Perspectives from Funders 

• Despite the consistently positive reports from nonprofit leaders over CEP’s three-year study, foundation leaders continue to report mixed perspectives on Scott’s approach. 

• Nearly 90 percent of nonprofit leaders report that the grant has had no negative consequences for their organization or work, and more than 80 percent indicate that their organization encountered no challenges with use or receipt of the grant.  

• Only 7 percent of foundation leaders report their foundation’s practices have been particularly  influenced by Scott’s giving model, although most say their staff, leadership team, or board has discussed her giving. 

• 60 percent of foundation leaders cite potential funding cliffs as the greatest drawback to Scott’s approach, yet only 7 percent of nonprofit recipients anticipate having “a lot” of difficulty covering ongoing costs. 

• While 93 percent of nonprofit leaders report the grant has moderately or significantly strengthened their ability to achieve their mission, only about one third of foundation leaders believe Scott’s approach has been “quite” or “very effective” for increasing recipient nonprofits’ impact.  

• 52 percent of foundation leaders believe their own foundation should provide more large, multiyear, unrestricted support than it currently does, but cite various barriers to doing so. 

“Few funders have the resources to give at the level that MacKenzie Scott is giving, but every funder can learn from her fascinating approach,” said Phil Buchanan, president of CEP and author of Giving Done Right. “Our research suggests that these nonprofits have benefited enormously from large, unrestricted gifts and that they are, in general, careful stewards of these resources, using them to expand and improve their programmatic offerings in the short-term and to simultaneously strengthen their organizations for the long-term. I hope this data spurs every funder to think about the possibilities unleashed by larger and more unrestricted giving than is the norm today.”  

In addition to the report, CEP published profiles of seven organizations that received funding from Scott. These detailed stories illuminate how Scott’s large, unrestricted gifts have transformed their organizations.