MacKenzie Scott has donated $14 billion since her divorce from Jeff Bezos…
The website includes a database of all the gifts she has given, she said, some of which have not previously been disclosed. This includes a $75 million donation to the Co-Impact organization fund that supports gender equality and women’s leadership globally. Scott and her then-husband Dan Jewett were listed as donors to the fund, but the amount of the donation was not released. Co-Impact did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another $40 million donation to the nonprofit consulting group that helped Scott vet and screen recipients for his donations was also disclosed.
Nonprofits disclose information about who funds them in tax forms submitted to the IRS, which are eventually made public. But the pandemic has contributed to delays in processing forms starting in 2020. Scott’s disclosure of this information about his donations helps increase transparency around his donations.
The Easterseals organization and its affiliates received a $162 million donation from Scott in 2020. The organization said it was not contacted by Scott’s representatives to contribute content to the website, but it submitted detailed reports on their use of funds.
“We remain grateful for Ms. Scott’s generous philanthropy and will continue to impact the lives of people with disabilities, including veterans and the elderly, through her transformational support,” said Sharon Watson of Easterseals per E-mail.
Habitat for Humanity International also said it had not been contacted by Scott’s representatives specifically about the content posted on the website.
On the site, Scott writes that she and her team assess organizations by analyzing their “potential for lasting positive impact,” including their finances, history, measurement of results, and whether they have “experienced leadership representative of the community served”.
Scott says the “open call” process she plans to launch will focus on specific types of organizations or certain sites. It plans to post the eligibility and selection criteria, as well as publicly appoint the panel for evaluating applications.
“Will the website be useful? Will expressing things my way (working on every word) lead to misunderstanding? ” she wrote. “Will misunderstanding be a barrier between us? Yes. Sometimes humans misunderstand each other. And yet, over time, each of us can help break down barriers through what we continue to choose to do.
Discover the 10 richest families in the world
The Associated Press’s coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits is supported by the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.