MacKenzie Scott’s $7.1 Billion Year: Why Her “Trust-Based” Giving is Changing Philanthropy Forever

The Call That Changes Everything

Imagine you’re running a nonprofit. Your phone rings. On the other line is a representative for MacKenzie Scott. They thank you for your work. And then they tell you they’re giving your organization a gift. A gift worth double your annual budget.

This isn’t a daydream. This was the reality for Kim Mazzuca, CEO of the college access nonprofit 10,000 Degrees, earlier this year. “I was just filled with such joy. I was speechless and I kind of stumbled around with my words,” she recalls, asking the caller to repeat the amount: $42 million.

In 2025, this scene played out for hundreds of organizations. MacKenzie Scott, the novelist turned philanthropist, has once again rewritten the rules of giving. She announced $7.1 billion in donations this year, a staggering sum that marks not just a transaction, but a profound philosophical shift in how we think about wealth, power, and solving the world’s problems.

This isn't just charity. It's a quiet revolution. And it’s working. Let’s explore how her unprecedented, trust-based approach is not just writing big checks, but building a stronger, more equitable world.

1. The Numbers: Understanding the Scale of Scott’s 2025 Giving

Let’s start with the sheer magnitude, because the numbers are almost hard to comprehend.

• $7.1 Billion in a Single Year: This year’s total is a massive increase, more than doubling her 2024 giving ($2.6 billion) and far exceeding her 2023 gifts ($2.1 billion).
• A Accelerating Timeline: Since she began giving in earnest after her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott has now given away a total of over $26 billion. To put that in perspective, her lifetime giving now rivals or exceeds that of legendary philanthropists like George Soros and Michael Bloomberg.
• The "Yield Giving" Method: She operates through an organization called Yield Giving, a name that hints at her dual mission: to increase good and to give up control. There’s no public office, no application process. Organizations are typically found through a quiet, intensive vetting process and notified by a surprise call.

But as Scott herself wrote in her announcement essay, “any dollar amount is a vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into communities this year”. The real story isn’t in the zeros. It’s in the transformational impact those zeros unlock.

2. The “Scott Method”: What is Trust-Based Philanthropy?

So, what makes her giving so different? It boils down to one radical idea: trust.

Most big philanthropy, even the well-meaning kind, comes with strings attached. Donors want detailed proposals, specific project budgets, and rigorous impact reports. It’s often a top-down relationship, where the funder dictates the solution.

Scott flips this script entirely. Her gifts are overwhelmingly unrestricted and no-strings-attached. Once the gift is made, there are no mandatory reports on how it’s spent. She trusts the leaders on the ground, the people “working and volunteering and serving real people face-to-face”, to know what their communities need most.

Think of it this way: Traditional philanthropy is like hiring a contractor and giving them a painstakingly detailed blueprint. You’ll be on-site every day, checking their work. Scott’s approach is like handing the keys to a master builder and saying, “You know what this neighborhood needs. Build it.”

This “trust-based philanthropy” is informed by her own life experiences. She often reflects on the kindness that helped her through Princeton, a dentist who fixed her broken tooth for free, a roommate who loaned her $1,000 to prevent her from dropping out. Those acts weren’t transactional. They were gifts of faith. Now, she’s scaling that personal principle to a breathtaking degree.

As Pia Infante, who helped coin the term “trust-based philanthropy,” explains, “It’s about trying to seat ourselves in the experience of the people who are feeling the most challenged by the system”.

3. The Proof is in the Data: What the Research Reveals

When Scott started giving at this scale, some in the philanthropic establishment were skeptical. Wouldn’t such large, unrestricted gifts lead to waste? Wouldn’t nonprofits face a “funding cliff” when the money ran out? Weren’t they… too small to succeed with such sudden wealth?

A definitive three-year study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) set out to answer these questions. The results, released in early 2025, are a powerful validation of Scott’s model.

The data tells a clear story of empowerment and stability:

• Strengthened Missions & Communities: A stunning 93% of nonprofit leaders reported that Scott’s gift moderately or significantly strengthened their ability to achieve their mission. Nearly 90% said it strengthened their broader community.
• Financial Health, Not "Cliffs": Contrary to fears, organizations used the gifts for long-term sustainability. They now hold, on average, twice as many months of operating expenses in reserve as comparable nonprofits. Only 7% anticipate significant difficulty covering ongoing costs.
• Empowered and Energized Leaders: The human impact is profound. Nearly 80% of leaders said the gift increased their confidence, and over a third reported reduced burnout. The gift improved internal morale and culture at over 40% of organizations.

The takeaway is undeniable. As Elisha Smith Arrillaga of CEP states, “These organizations have managed large gifts in strategic ways that have impacted thousands of lives… Investing in organizations and leaders that are doing amazing work can have huge impacts on communities”.

4. Where the Money Went: Spotlight on 2025’s Major Beneficiaries

Scott’s giving is data-driven and strategic, with a clear focus on leveraging wealth to correct systemic inequities. This year, education, particularly for historically marginalized groups, was a major theme.

• Historic Investment in HBCUs: In advance of her public announcement, more than a dozen Historically Black Colleges and Universities revealed gifts totaling $783 million. Expert Marybeth Gasman praised Scott as “an equity machine,” especially at a time when efforts to promote equity in education face political challenges. This round of giving was even larger than her notable 2020 donations to HBCUs.
• Empowering Educational Networks: She gave $70 million to UNCF (the United Negro College Fund), which will invest it in a collective endowment for its member HBCUs. Another $50 million went to the Native Forward Scholars Fund, supporting Native American students.
• Beyond Education: While education was a headline, her giving continues to span critical areas. She has made recent major gifts to organizations focused on veterans’ services, disaster recovery, affordable housing, and women’s rights. Each gift follows the same pattern: large, unrestricted, and trust-based.

The geographic pattern is also telling. While she gives in all 50 states, her giving “leans southward,” targeting regions with greater historical disadvantage and higher populations of people of color. It’s a deliberate re-flowing of capital to where it’s needed most.

5. The Ripple Effect: How Scott’s Giving is Changing Philanthropy

The impact of a MacKenzie Scott gift doesn’t stop at the bank account. It creates powerful ripple effects that reshape the entire philanthropic landscape.

• A Seal of Credibility: For other donors, a Scott gift is a powerful signal. It means an organization has been through a rigorous, behind-the-scenes vetting. Nearly all nonprofit leaders surveyed reported changing their fundraising approach, most often by using Scott’s grant as evidence of their credibility to attract more investment.
• Inspiring Other Donors: While only 7% of foundation leaders say their practices have been “particularly influenced” by Scott, the conversation has undeniably started. Over half believe their own foundations should provide more large, unrestricted support, even if barriers remain. She is making trust-based giving aspirational.
• Catalyzing Internal Growth: For the nonprofits, the gift is transformative internally. It allows for strategic investments in staff, technology, and planning that were previously impossible. The Bob Woodruff Foundation, for example, used its first Scott gift to increase its grantmaking by 20% annually for three years, a move that later attracted a second, even larger gift from Scott.

A New Blueprint for Generosity

MacKenzie Scott’s $7.1 billion year is more than a headline. It’s a living experiment in a new form of philanthropy, one that is humble, trust-filled, and fiercely focused on equity.

She demonstrates that you can move with both unprecedented speed and thoughtful rigor. That you can cede control and increase impact. Her story pushes back against the hoarding instinct and asks a fundamental question: if the goal is truly to help, why would we make it so hard for the helpers?

You don’t need billions to adopt this mindset. It starts with recognizing that the people closest to a problem are usually closest to the solution. It starts with giving not just money, but autonomy and respect.

As Scott reflects on the Hopi prophecy she often cites: “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Her philanthropy is an attempt to live that truth, to empower the countless leaders who have been waiting, not for a savior, but for a partner who believes in them enough to simply get out of the way.

The safe isn’t empty yet. And the flock, as she might say, is still in flight. But the direction is clear: toward a future where generosity means trusting others to lead the way.