Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon found Jeff Bezos, is gifting $18 million dollars to nine Twin Cities nonprofit organizations including $4 million toward two LGBTQ groups.
LGTBQ equity organization OutFront Minnesota and equity organization Gender Justice were each given $2 million.
Kat Rohn with OutFront Minnesota says its an honor for an organization of their size to get such a large donation and says they are still planning on how to properly use the funds.
"We know for sure one of the things that we want to do with this is make sure that, you know, we've really rebuilt our statewide reach as an organization, doing more events, more outreach throughout the State of Minnesota," says Rohn. "And I think this is really an opportunity to put some more money behind those efforts."
The donations from Scott are categorized as "unrestricted," meaning the funds can be used in whatever way the organizations choose.
Rohn says this donation will ensure Minnesotans within the LGBTQ community will be better served.
"It's a blessing that both of our organizations are able to celebrate this together," Rohn says. "We really trust the fact that LGBTQ issues and communities are under-invested in, and this is a landmark gift that we hope will get more of the philanthropic community engaged in this work."
The gift is the largest one-time donation in the organization's history.
Scott announced Tuesday she is giving a total of $640 million to 361 small nonprofits that responded to an open call for applications.
The 279 nonprofits that received top scores from an external review panel were awarded $2 million, while 82 organizations in a second tier received $1 million each.
Megan Peterson, executive director of the Minnesota-based nonprofit, Gender Justice, said the application was a rare opportunity to get noticed by Scott.
“Having seen the types of work that she has supported in the past, we did feel like, ‘Oh, if only she knew that we were out here racking up wins,’” said Peterson.
Her organization has won lawsuits recently around access to emergency contraception and the rights of trans youth to play sports. They plan to use the funds to expand their work into North Dakota. Peterson said the funds must be used for tax exempt purposes but otherwise come with no restrictions or reporting requirements — just like Scott’s previous grants.
“I think she’s really helping to set a new path for philanthropy broadly, which is with that philosophy of: Find people doing good work and give them resources and then get out of the way,” Peterson said of Scott. “I am grateful for not just the support individually, but the way in which I think she is having an impact on philanthropy broadly.”
Scott has given away $16.5 billion from the fortune she came into after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Initially, she publicized the gifts in online blog posts, sometimes naming the organizations and sometimes not. She launched a database of her giving in December 2022, under the name Yield Giving.
In an essay reflecting on the website, she wrote, “Information from other people – other givers, my team, the nonprofit teams I’ve been giving to – has been enormously helpful to me. If more information about these gifts can be helpful to anyone, I want to share it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.