Yield Giving, founded by billionaire philanthropist and Amazon Co-founder MacKenzie Scott, announced that it had distributed $640 million to 361 organizations dedicated to aiding individuals and communities facing significant challenges across the United States.
From that list of selected nonprofits, four are based in North Texas: Bonton Farms ($2 million), the Prison Entrepreneurship Program ($2 million), the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas ($2 million) and Dallas Afterschool ($1 million).
“Dallas Afterschool is proud to be a recipient of the MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving Open Call award,” CEO of Dallas Afterschool Marjorie Murat said in a social media post. “It is an honor to be recognized amongst so many worthy organizations doing such meaningful work from across the nation.”
From the fortune she acquired following her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott has donated $16.5 billion. Initially, she shared these gifts through online blog posts, occasionally disclosing the recipient organizations. In December 2022, she introduced a database of her philanthropic contributions, known as Yield Giving.
In March 2023, Yield Giving initiated an open call targeting community-led organizations with a specific focus on advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families facing financial hardship, as well as marginalized groups encountering discrimination and systemic barriers. The majority of Scott’s donations were given to nonprofits in fields such as equity and justice, education, health and economic security.
The open call garnered 6,353 submissions and initially aimed to grant 250 awards valued at $1 million each. By the fall of 2023, organizations progressed to a second evaluation round conducted by an external evaluation panel selected for their pertinent expertise.
The donor team then opted to broaden the pool of recipients and increase the award amount. The top tier of 279 organizations received $2 million each, while the subsequent tier of 82 organizations received $1 million each.
“We each come by the gifts we have to offer by an infinite series of influences and lucky breaks we can never fully understand,” Scott wrote in her giving pledge. “In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”
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