Unrestricted and Unprecedented: The Impact of MacKenzie Scott’s Large Gifts on LGBTQ Organizations provides an analysis of the impact of the philanthropist’s gifts to LGBTQ movement organizations.
The report’s findings are based on a survey of LGBTQ organizations conducted by MAP in April 2023. The survey examined the scope of the gifts received and the impact that these unrestricted gifts have had so far. The report illustrates how Scott’s gifts to LGBTQ organizations have been transformative in allowing them to plan for the future and broaden their impact.
Snapshot of Findings
Between 2020-2022, MacKenzie Scott gave more than $163 million to the 28 LGBTQ-focused organizations included in the MAP report. The majority of these gifts (39%) were between $1-2 million, with $1 million as the minimum gift level and a maximum gift of $34 million. While the scale of the gifts that participants received is noteworthy, these findings also highlight the impact of the fact that these gifts were unrestricted in how organizations could use the funds.
LGBTQ movement organizations report many significant benefits from receiving MacKenzie Scott’s gifts. The unrestricted nature of Scott’s gifts has allowed organizations to pursue new opportunities, expand their stability, and invest in their personnel and infrastructure, all of which has the potential to broaden organizations’ impact and operating capacity.
- Nearly half of the organizations included in the MAP report use the Scott gift to invest in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.
- Nearly two-thirds of organizations (65%) were able to increase salary and benefits for staff and the majority (59%) were able to hire new staff. Nearly half (47%) were able to invest in professional development for staff.
- More than half of organizations were able to expand existing programs (59%) and more than one-third (41%) started a new program.
- Organizations were also able to better collaborate with other movement organizations and increase fiscal stability by establishing cash reserves.
- Nearly half of participating organizations (47%) reported that the Scott gift made their fundraising efforts easier. Only 18% reporting that the gift made fundraising more difficult.
About MAP’s LGBTQ MacKenzie Scott Gift Recipient Survey Participants
In April 2023 MAP surveyed 35 recipients of Scott gifts that focused entirely or largely on LGBTQ issues. The report includes information about 28 of those 35 organizations: eighteen organizations participated in the MAP survey and gift amounts for ten organizations were publicly available, such as through organizations’ external communications.
Additional details about the survey participants are available in the report, including budget size, geographic focus, type of organization, and more.
Background
The Unrestricted and Unprecedented report builds on 17 years of MAP research about the health and needs of the LGBTQ movement. This research enables LGBTQ organizations, funders, and individual donors to gain clarity on sustaining and strengthening the movement.
