MacKenzie Scott announces nearly $2 billion in donations to 343 organizations in a blog post

In her first post in nearly eight months, Scott presented her donations to numerous funds as a “great resource” for giving. “They pool donations and distribute them among a diverse group of smaller organizations working toward a common cause,” she wrote. “The funds we select look for teams with lived experience in the issues they address.”

Scott also reiterated a promise, first made in December last year, to release a database of the organizations she has donated to.

Her donation list includes several that have already been announced, including $85 million to the Girl Scouts of the USA last month, $39 million to Junior Achievement USA in August, and $123 million to Big Brothers of Big Sisters America in May. Monday’s statement did not list any donation amounts.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, Scott, rose to philanthropic fame in 2019 when she vowed to give away the majority of her fortune, then raking in $5.8 billion in donations by the end of 2020.

Monday’s announcement brought the amount she allegedly gave to around $14 billion to around 1,500 organizations.

Bezos said in an interview with CNN published Monday that he would give away most of his wealth in his lifetime, though he didn’t specify how.

Forbes puts Scott’s net worth at $29.5 billion, a figure that’s down from a peak in 2021.

Aside from the speed and scale of her giving, Scott’s approach to spending her money also caught the attention of other large donors and recipients of nonprofits: She uses a small team of consultants led by a consulting firm and informs nonprofits in the Rule about the biggest donations they’ve ever received B. through a cold call or after an unobtrusive email. Your gifts come with no strings attached and very few reporting requirements.

Because she made these donations as an individual and not through a foundation, there are few public records other than announcements by recipient organizations — not all have disclosed the amounts received.

For the past three years, Scott has only spoken about her philanthropy in her blog posts, choosing not to respond to media inquiries.

Scott’s donation list also included a poem by Gwen Nell Westerman, “Dakota Homecoming,” which inspires her to stop talking every time she reads it.

“I had to shut down my laptop for a few days before writing this very short post,” Scott wrote.

___

The Associated Press’s philanthropy and nonprofit coverage is supported through AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US and is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Sign up for the Fortune Features Email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews and investigations.