Who Will Double Down on MacKenzie Scott’s Giving?

We are at an extraordinary moment in the history of philanthropic giving in the United States. Over the past four years, MacKenzie Scott has given gifts totaling more than $17 billion to over 2,300 organizations with proven track records. There’s no sign that she plans to slow down. There’s also no precedent for this kind of giving at this pace, with this ethos and at this volume. The result is an impressive cohort of highly vetted, impact-focused organizations now ready for additional investments that will power them to change the world.

Giving follow-on funding to MacKenzie Scott grantees represents a unique, low-risk, high-impact opportunity for other funders. There has rarely been a more highly evaluated group of organizations working on so many different issue areas that are ready to drive outsized impact and are poised for transformative scale.

Organizations chosen for their ability to effect change

Scott and her giving team have researched and vetted nonprofits that work with an equity lens and have the power and potential to make the most of her gifts. They have also followed the lead of other sophisticated funders. For example, over 40 of the nearly 130 organizations chosen by the Skoll Foundation for their Skoll Award for Social Innovation have received a Scott gift. Skoll spends years conducting due diligence and tracking the results of scale-oriented organizations.

From what we know to date, the organizations selected by Scott are living up to this billing. Center for Effective Philanthropy’s research finds that 83% of leaders of organizations who received a Scott gift reported that the grant will “significantly strengthen their organization’s ability to achieve its mission.”

Because Scott’s gifts are unrestricted, recipients spend on hard-to-fund activities — helping them evolve into the organizations they have always hoped to become.

Panorama Global’s Collaborative Learning for Impact Philanthropy initiative has worked with more than 100 organizations that received grants from Scott, observing significant improvements two years post-grant. These organizations refined growth strategies, strengthened their operating capacity and built out their teams. Seventy percent invested in operations or infrastructure, 58% in financial sustainability and 37% in strategic planning. While the Scott grant was a major boost, nonprofits in these cohorts emphasized how much more impact they could have if they had follow-on funding that leveraged Scott’s investment.

A down payment on plans for transformational outcomes

Because of Scott’s funding, these organizations are now more capable and more likely than ever to deliver transformational change. Yet for many, Scott’s grants represent an initial “down payment” on their ambitious strategic plans, amounting to what some describe as 15 to 30% of the total they really require to achieve bold impact goals.

For example, at VisionSpring, we are investing the majority of our $15 million Scott gift to launch our Livelihoods in Focus initiative. Livelihoods in Focus is designed to correct the vision of more than 8 million farmers and artisans who rely on clear sight for their productivity and income. Through eyeglasses, the initiative will unlock $1.5 billion in income-earning potential in low-income households by 2030. Delivering on our plan requires an additional $61 million. The sooner funders contribute to the initiative, the greater the likelihood of delivering these ambitious results.

Muso received $15 million from Scott to battle the injustice of delayed healthcare, a leading cause of preventable deaths rooted in poverty. This catalytic contribution unlocked many of Muso's ambitious goals for healthcare delivery, research and technical assistance. This led the organization to develop an audacious new five-year strategic plan from 2024 to 2028. Muso plans to provide rapid access to quality healthcare to an additional 1 million people in three more countries and support governments to extend its Rapid Care model to over 100 million people. Muso aims to raise on average $28 million per year over the next five years to expand its evidence-based, proven model in more countries.

Based on conversations with other organizations, this pattern likely plays out across many of Scott’s other awardees.

There are many organizations in the Scott portfolio with similar aspirations and the foundation for success. But delivery will depend on how much other philanthropists invest — and how quickly. Without this follow-on investment, these organizations risk returning to incremental change and having to recalibrate to more modest impact goals.

MacKenzie Scott’s giving has lowered the risk for other philanthropists

In the world of venture capital, the prudent investor looks to put their money into a business that has already secured some funding from others; it’s a strong signal that this is an investment with a high chance of success.

Philanthropic donors should draw the same conclusions about Scott’s grantees. The billions Scott has gifted de-risk the growth strategies for follow-on investors, meaning they can now take bigger bets to achieve greater results.

Some donors have already adopted this approach. Rippleworks backs scaling social ventures and is open about its strategy to provide follow-on funding to Scott’s gifts. Rippleworks CEO and cofounder Doug Galen explains, “We are relentlessly focused on funding high-impact ventures who have the greatest potential to scale. For us, we know MacKenzie Scott’s selection process consistently identifies high-performing organizations. We also know Scott’s major gifts get ventures to about 15 to 30% of what they need to actually achieve those scale plans. Unfortunately, the ventures’ need for additional funds to achieve their full potential is often overlooked. Who else is going to fill in the remaining gap, if not funders like us?”

Seventeen percent of Rippleworks’ portfolio giving has come on the heels of a Scott gift to the venture. This includes Luminos Fund, Friendship Bench, Lwala Community Alliance and Springboard Collaborative.

We are in a window of opportunity for other donors to have an outsized impact

Scott has created an opportunity in philanthropy that has never before existed — an opportunity to accelerate scale and impact through an already-vetted array of more than 2,000 organizations working across almost any mission a philanthropist would choose to support.

As funders look to maximize their social return on investment, Scott’s Yield Giving database is an excellent resource. Investors will find organizations that have new momentum and traction on ambitious scaling plans.

This is a window of opportunity to realize outsized results. By doubling down on Scott’s giving, other philanthropists can change the world like never before.

Ella Gudwin, CEO of VisionSpring, is a social entrepreneur and global health strategist with more than 25 years of experience in international development. Under her leadership, VisionSpring has grown to correct the vision of 12 million low-income adults and children.

Bradley Myles serves as Senior Advisor – Innovation at Panorama Global, a platform for social change. Bradley has over 20 years of experience as a social entrepreneur and nonprofit leader in the gender-based violence field.

Featured