Since 2019, MacKenzie Scott has given over $19 billion through 2,524 unrestricted grants, 199 of which were awarded in December 2024 (Giving Update). Her giving is chronicled on Yield Giving, where each gift is listed with grant recipient self-reported geographies of service (up to three, ranging in specificity from a city to the entire globe) and focus areas (up to five). Gift amounts are also listed unless grantees elect to “delay disclosure for their own benefit” - the terminology Yield Giving uses for non-disclosure of gift amount.
As Scott’s historical portfolio of grants grows, previously observed patterns in her giving are solidifying, while new trends are beginning to emerge. For example, the four largest focus areas on the December 2024 round remain consistent with past rounds: Economic Security & Opportunity, Equity & Justice, Education, and Health. The average gift sizes are growing, but funding distribution across focus areas and regions remains largely consistent. These trends exclude grants in the March 2024 “open call” cycle, which were largely between $1-2 million USD and went to U.S. organizations only – see this previously published report from Panorama for more information on this singular giving round. The December 2024 round is unique, however, in that it marks a significant expansion in the number of gifts that went to organizations who have already received one or more previous gifts from Scott – demonstrating her willingness to double down on investments to groups who maintain alignment with her giving priorities.
Through the Collaborative Learning for Impact Philanthropy (CLIP) initiative, Panorama Global has been analyzing and documenting Scott’s giving. Before the Yield Giving online grants database went live in December 2022, Panorama conducted an in-depth analysis of Scott’s grantmaking from 2019-2022 and published an infographic on the subject. Since then, we have leveraged the self-reported information available through Yield Giving to publish additional analyses that highlight trends evident in her giving to date. Panorama Global is pleased to continue this work through this publication, which breaks down the latest tranche of gifts announced by Yield Giving on December 18, 2024.
When comparing Scott’s gifts from 2019 to March 2024 versus her giving in the December 2024 round, the top four focus areas have remained consistent throughout, even if the exact percentages and rankings differed between rounds. These four focus areas are Equity & Justice, Education, Economic Security & Opportunity, and Health.
The most significant difference in this round of funding is the clear commitment to support organizations working on Economic Security & Opportunity, which represented 66.8% of gifts. In Scott’s all-time giving, the Economic Security & Opportunity focus area represented only 42.5% of gifts.
Further, the number of gifts to organizations focusing on Arts & Culture, Democratic Process, Education, Health, Equity & Justice decreased compared to previous rounds.
As we outlined in a previous analysis of Scott’s giving, her most recent grantmaking cycle in March of 2024 (which was conducted via an open call process) was an anomaly – both because the average gift size was lower ($1.7 million) than in the past, and because gifts went exclusively to U.S. organizations. Scott’s giving in December 2024 marked a return to her previous giving style from before the March 2024 open call round in terms of gift size and the inclusion of international organizations.
The average gift size was $9.0 million, an increase from the average gift size from 2019-2023 ($7.3 million).
In terms of grant size distribution, a majority (57.8%) of organizations received gifts between $1–$10 million.
In December 2024, average gift sizes varied substantially across grant focus areas. Democratic Process grants had the smallest average gift size ($3.2 million), and Environment grants had the largest average gift size ($11.2 million) - a difference of about $8 million. This is a larger range than Scott’s December 2023 grant round, where the difference between the smallest average gift size (Health) and the largest (Environment) was only $2.5 million.
18.6% of grants went to groups who selected international geographies of service. 83.9% of gifts went to organizations working in the U.S. These two figures do not add up to 100% because a small handful of organizations work both internationally and within the U.S. and therefore selected both geographies of service.
Organizations in the U.S. West received the largest percentage of grants amongst U.S. regions.
This trend is in line with Scott’s previous giving patterns within the United States. U.S. West received the largest proportion of grants in the March 2024 grant round (34.9%) as well as in her combined giving from 2020-2023 (22%).
Of the 18.6 % of total gifts that went to groups with an international geography of service, organizations in Latin America & the Caribbean received the highest number of grants, representing 35% of all international gifts in this round.
This represents a shift in regional distribution trends for Scott’s giving. In her grants from 2020-2023, the largest international regional distribution was to organizations with a geography of service in Sub-Saharan Africa (37.2%), or those who had a more general Global orientation (35.5%).
One of the most interesting observations from the December 2024 round is that gifts to repeat recipients represented 18.1% of the total gifts distributed. Repeat recipients have been rare in the past (there were only nine repeat recipients between 2019 and March 2024), yet 36 grants in this giving cycle went to groups that have already received a Scott gift.
Additionally, the average gift size to repeat recipients was more than double the average size of the general giving round more broadly. Repeat recipients in this round received an average grant of $21.8 million versus an average grant size in the overall round of $8.9 million.
Organizations that received their first grants from Scott in 2020 and 2021 made up a significant majority of the repeat recipients in the December 2024 round (91.7%). There were only three gifts to repeat recipients who received their first grants from Scott in 2022 or 2023 (8.3%).
Here are additional observations from gifts to repeat recipients:
Grants to repeat recipients fall into one of two categories:
Of the repeat recipients on this round, 86% had a focus on Economic Security & Opportunity, which is aligned with the primary focus area of this giving round more broadly.
Overall, this data suggests that Scott is increasingly likely to double down on her gifts to organizations she has given to previously, especially when there is continued alignment in thematic focus areas identified for subsequent rounds. As Scott’s portfolio continues to grow, it will be interesting to watch what further trends emerge amongst repeat recipients.
