Yield Giving

Scott began her major philanthropic giving in 2019, prior to the creation of Yield Giving. From 2019 through January 2026, Scott had awarded over $26 billion in over 2,700 unrestricted gifts to nonprofit organizations, ² many of which are focused on left-of-center causes such as open immigration; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs; historically Black colleges and universities; and environmentalist activism. ³

Background

Yield Giving is a philanthropic foundation launched in December 2022 MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, following criticism she received over the secrecy of her philanthropic grants. It publishes the names of the organizations that receive funds through its Yield Giving website. ⁴

Scott married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and co-founded Cadabra, an online bookselling company, which became Amazon in 1995. Scott and Bezos divorced in 2019. As part of their settlement, Scott was left with 25 percent of their Amazon stock, then valued at over $38 billion. ⁵

Since her divorce, Scott has focused her time on philanthropy, signing the Giving Pledge, a commitment to donate the majority of her wealth to charity during her lifetime. ⁶

Approach and Grant Selection Process

The Yield Giving approach differs from most philanthropic organizations. It chooses its grantees and awards money quickly, providing unrestricted grants with no programmatic directives, no naming-rights demands, and minimal reporting requirements. ⁷

Most grantees are selected through “quiet research” coordinated by the Yield Giving staff. The staff evaluates nonprofit organizations to identify candidates based on a set of criteria that would indicate a “high potential for sustained positive impact” and reaches out to the selected organizations to offer a gift “for use however they choose.” Yield Giving then provides a small team to provide operations support and offers a large advisor network the grantee can gain benefit from. ⁸

In March 2023, Yield Giving organized an open call in partnership with Lever for Change which published criteria for eligibility and an online application. Its initial plan was to award 250 organizations $1 million each. In March 2024, 279 organizations received $2 million each and 82 organizations received $1 million each for a total of $640 million to 361 organizations. Lever for Change is part of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ^{8  9  10}

Focus Areas and Grants

The Yield Giving list of gifts had 2,711 entries as of January 20, 2026. The list includes the organization name, year, and grant amount, along with the organization’s reported focus area, geographies of service, and mission statement. ¹¹

In December 2023, Yield Giving listed almost $2.2 billion in gifts to 360 organizations, announced through an essay entitled “(Giving Update).” ¹² In March 2024, Yield Giving posted an essay entitled “(Open Call Update)” announcing its list of 361 organizations that received gifts through its Open Call process. ¹³ Its December 2024 essay entitled “Investing” announced over $2 billion in gifts to 199 organizations. ¹⁴ Its December 2025 essay announcing over $7 billion in gifts was entitled “We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For.” ¹⁵

In 2025, many of Scott’s gifts centered on focus areas that were left-of-center in nature, including groups that had been affected by policy changes and federal cuts, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs; historically Black colleges and universities; health care; environmentalist climate-change-related work; and disaster relief. ³

In 2025, over $7 billion was given in grants. This included $783 million in gifts to historically Black colleges and universities, $214 million to Hispanic-serving colleges and universities, and $74 million to Native American-serving colleges. ^{16  3} Yield Giving awarded $42 million to 10,000 Degrees, a DEI-focused organization “to achieve educational equity” ¹⁷ and $70 million to the UNCF (United Negro College Fund.) ¹⁸

Yield Giving awarded the African American Cultural Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a $40 million gift in 2025. Some claimed that this, along with her “record breaking gifts to HBCUs,” was evidence that Scott “triples down on DEI” and intended to heavily support DEI initiatives. ⁷

Climate-related gifts in 2025 included $140 million to the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, and the Solutions Project; $10 million to the Woodwell Climate Research Center; $20 million to Climate Breakthrough; ^{16  3} and $130 million to ClimateWorks Foundation programs. ¹⁸

Yield Giving awarded gifts to organizations that support illegal immigrants including the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, the Hispanic Federation, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, TheDream.US, and UnidosUS. ¹⁸

Gifts to organizations that support LGBT causes and left-of-center gender advocacy have included the Point Foundation, the Contigo Fund, the Global Fund for Women, Mama Cash, ¹⁸ and the Trevor Project. ¹⁹

Other 2025 gifts were awarded to Borealis Philanthropy, Blue Meridian Partners, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, the Fund for Global Human Rights, Solidaire Network, and the Vera Institute of Justice. ¹⁸

Controversial Gifts

In 2025, Yield Giving made several gifts to organizations facing federal probes. One was an organization that supports anti-Israel activism and has been accused of “aligning with groups hostile to U.S. policy in the Middle East.” ²⁰

Yield Giving’s approach to giving is controversial to some, given the minimal due diligence that is done when gifts are awarded quickly and without restrictions. One critic argued there is risk that “when billions of dollars move quickly through nonprofit networks, the risk of indirect exposure to extremist groups increases.” ²¹