MacKenzie Scott gave 24 nonprofits $146 million in the first half of 2023

abcnews.go.com:

MacKenzie Scott’s quest to give the bulk of her wealth to charity continues

MacKenzie Scott’s quest to give the bulk of her wealth to charity continues.

So far this year, 24 nonprofits have announced they’ve received unrestricted donations from Scott through her Yield Giving fund, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy tally. The gifts total $146 million and range from $1 million to $15 million. Nearly half went to charities focused on early-childhood education and early-childhood development. Scott has now given more than $14.1 billion to at least 1,621 charities since 2020.

To encourage people to focus on the charities rather than on her, Scott has stopped announcing her donations as she had in the past. Now she leaves it up to the charities to decide whether to publicize her gifts. Given the scale of her giving in previous years, it is likely the 24 announced contributions represent only a portion of what she has actually donated so far this year.

Charity leaders say they appreciate Scott’s decision to let nonprofits choose whether to publicize the gifts because it lets them decide what’s best for the organization.

“It was in our best interest to announce this donation and to share the victory with our peers in the movement,” says Sean McCarthy, who manages donor relations at the National Housing Trust. The affordable housing group landed a $10 million gift from Scott last month, its largest donation to date. “We view this gift as a vote of confidence.”

Still, there were pros and cons to consider. Trust officials wanted to announce the gift to show that a high profile philanthropist like Scott has faith in the trust’s mission and its ability to manage a gift of that size.

They discussed the potential downsides to