Early Xmas for Over 300 Nonprofits Thanks to MacKenzie Scott

I’d like to crown MacKenzie Scott the Giving Pledge Goddess. She took the pledge, and she meant it.

If you had several billion dollars, what would you do?

If you’re like most billionaires, you wouldn’t give a fraction of your wealth at the speed at which Ms. Scott has done in the recent weeks and months. Ms. Scott has now set a record for giving the most away at a frenzied pace, and is on track to give more than $6 Billion to charity this year.

There are over 600 billionaires in the USA and more than 2,000 worldwide — the majority of which have not given away even a billion dollars. And certainly not in a single year. Currently, only around 200 (around 10%) of the world’s richest people have joined the Giving Pledge to give away the majority of their wealth during their lifetime or at the time of their death.

Ms. Scott is unquestionably a role model for other foundations and philanthropists. She saw a need and took action.

What Can We Learn From MacKenzie Scott?

In her own words published in Medium, Ms. Scott writes:

We looked at 6,490 organizations and undertook deeper research into 822. We put 438 of these 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.

If your organization had been considered, do you think it would have passed the test? What is “sufficient evidence of impact?” And “proven management teams?” What will you do in 2021 to improve in those areas?

These words are jargony, but it’s clear that Ms. Scott wants to make sure her gifts are going to nonprofits that are well-run.

She goes on to write:

Then we can select organizations to assist — and get out of their way… We do this research and deeper diligence not only to identify organizations with high potential for impact, but also to pave the way for unsolicited and unexpected gifts given with full trust and no strings attached.

Of course, this is every fundraiser’s dream come true — unrestricted gifts with no strings attached.

These words and her actions have the potential to do more for fundraising than 1000 fundraisers shouting from the rooftops about the importance of unrestricted gifts.

Dream Big: What Would You Do With a Massive Gift?

So what would you do with a multi-million-dollar gift? How would you decide where the money goes?

Here are my top five recommendations:

1. Tell the World

Post on your website that you passed the Scott Test, and link over to her Medium article.

2. Recruit Community Leaders

Recruit leaders in your community to help you determine the best use of the funds. Leverage your newfound fame to attract some of the largest philanthropists to join your cause with a short term, ad hoc assignment on how to allocate the funds.

3. Ask a Key Question

Come up with a good response to the question: “Why do you need to keep raising funds?” See my video on this subject.

4. Allocate Funds

Allocate funds for:

Capacity building
Endowment
Program evaluation
Program and service expansion

5. Support Your Staff

My partner, Andrea Kihlstedt, at the Capital Campaign Toolkit wondered aloud if any organization will give everyone on staff a raise. Not a bad idea, as most nonprofit staff are sorely underpaid.

One final word of caution…

I caution board members from taking the wrong message from this post — that millions are likely to drop from the sky. In other words, that they don’t have to help with fundraising because someone else will take care of it.

We All Owe a Debt of Gratitude to Ms. Scott

While most foundations and philanthropists agonized this year whether to adjust their scarcity-minded giving from 5% to 6%, Ms. Scott took action.

I commend Ms. Scott for her generosity, courage, determination, and leadership. It’s actually harder to give away money than you might think… or so I’ve been told.

How can we, as a sector, hold Ms. Scott up as an example and share her message?

Here’s what I suggest…

Reach out and thank her for her generosity on your website and on your social media, even if you didn’t get a gift. Hold her up as an example to your donors — not with regard to the donation size, but the unrestricted nature of her gifts.

Let’s use Ms. Scott’s example to change the conversation about what philanthropy should look like during this unprecedented time.