A billionaire philanthropist who has pledged to give away at least half her wealth in her lifetime has seeded a series of Minnesota nonprofits with the largest personal donations in their history.
MacKenzie Scott, author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said in a blog post this week she has already unloaded $4.16 billion to 384 nonprofits and charitable initiatives across the country in the past four months alone.
The unrestricted funds can be used in any number of ways, and arrived unexpected and unsolicited by the nonprofits.
“This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” said Scott, in her Dec. 15 blog post. “Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”
YWCA OF ST. PAUL TO RECEIVE $3 MILLION
The YWCA of St. Paul will receive $3 million from Scott, which is the largest private gift in the nonprofit’s 114-year history and nearly double the size of all the contributions it received in 2019 combined.
“It’s just an amazing gift, it really is,” said YWCA chief executive officer Gaye Adams Massey. “Just between the pandemic, the economy, the death of George Floyd, we work with community on all of that, and it’s been quite a year.”
To put a $3 million contribution in further perspective: In 2019, the YWCA of St. Paul operated on a $6 million budget, fueled in part by $1.9 million in contributions and $1.5 million in government grants. Its health and fitness center, rental income, United Way support and program fees made up much of the difference.
The YWCA owns and manages 57 units of affordable family housing outfitted with case management services. Massey said the donation will allow the nonprofit — which was founded a century ago to empower young women — to expand its supportive housing, youth empowerment and employment programs, among other community work focused on racial justice and equity.
“We are incredibly grateful for this monumental gift that could not have come at a more critical time as our community, like so many others, is facing unprecedented challenges,” Massey wrote, in a written statement on the nonprofit’s website.
CASA DE ESPERANZA, GREATER MINNESOTA HOUSING FUND ALSO RECIPIENTS
Another recipient of Scott’s unexpected philanthropy is Casa de Esperanza, a 38-year-old domestic violence shelter and national advocacy group based in St. Paul. The nonprofit, which employs roughly 48 workers, chose not to reveal the size of its gift, but staffers intimated it was also substantial.
“It really is a blessing for us. We did not solicit any of this. It’s a multi-million dollar gift, and it really allows us to establish our reserve fund, which we did not have,” said Patti Tototzintle, chief executive officer of Casa de Esperanza.
“We did a strategic plan in 2019, knowing we would need to continue to raise funds in order to fulfill those plans,” said Tototzintle, who also foresees hiring additional core staff across operations and improving its website. “This really allows us to do that.”
She learned of the possibility of a grant through a California-based consulting group three weeks ago, but was not told at the time which philanthropist group was involved or how much the donation might be for. Last Thursday, she received the official news, which floored her.
On the nonprofit’s website, Tototzintle wrote: “Never has Casa de Esperanza been more needed and never have we been so grateful. … Her investment infuses and bolsters our work, giving us the room to experiment and innovate, to imagine and dream, to thrive not just survive. Today is an exciting milestone but it is not the end or the beginning.”
Also based in St. Paul, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund “received an unexpected donor gift of $7 million” from Scott, according to a written statement from fund president and chief executive officer Warren Hanson.
“MacKenzie Scott’s gift is remarkable, unexpected and we are deeply grateful for this unrestricted gift which will advance the evolving work of Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and the organizations we support,” he said.
Hanson said his organization will use the contribution to preserve affordable housing, fight homelessness and address economic and racial inequalities in housing.
That includes financial lending to minority-owned builders and developers, emergency rent assistance for tenants impacted by COVID, a health-and-housing initiative that aims to create support services for low-income tenants living with chronic conditions, and the preservation of small, naturally affordable private rental housing.
OTHER RECIPIENTS
Other recipients include the Duluth Area Family YMCA, the YMCA of the North and the Minneapolis-based Community Reinvestment Fund USA, a national housing and small business lender.
In her blog post, Scott said she worked with a team of advisers “to help me accelerate my 2020 giving through immediate support to people suffering the economic effects of the crisis,” and used a “data-driven approach” to evaluate organizations based on strong leadership teams and results.
The team put special emphasis on organizations “operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates and low access to philanthropic capital.”
They began with a list of 6,490 organizations and narrowed the field to 822. Of those, she said, they put 438 “on hold for now due to insufficient evidence of impact, unproven management teams, or to allow for further inquiry about specific issues such as treatment of community members or employees.”
