When MacKenzie Scott signed the Giving Pledge in 2019 — a global commitment in which billionaires promise to give away more than half of their wealth — the same year she and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos finalized their divorce, she made it clear that she planned on giving away most of her fortune. “I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” she wrote in her Giving Pledge Letter, adding that she’d keep giving “until the safe is empty.” Six years later, she’s still keeping that promise, and her latest round of gifts once again is making headlines.
Throughout October and November, Scott donated $387 million to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the country. Her donations include $80 million to Howard University in Washington, D.C.; $63 million to Morgan State University in Maryland; $50 million to Virginia State University; $42 million to Alcorn State University in Mississippi; and $38 million each to Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, Alabama State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The funding came with no restrictions, meaning the schools can use the money however they believe will best serve their students and long-term goals.
Scott shared the news on October 15 through her blog post, “We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For”, through her philanthropic organization, Yield Giving, which has already distributed more than $19 billion to nonprofits worldwide. While she downplayed the size of her latest donations, calling them a “tiny fraction” of all charitable giving in the U.S., the ripple effects for the receiving HBCUs will be anything but small.
Howard University has received a transformative $80 million unrestricted gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott … one of the single largest contributions in the University’s history.
This historic investment will strengthen student aid, support infrastructure improvements,… pic.twitter.com/GRa8AAgK5J
— Howard University (@HowardU) November 3, 2025
But this isn’t her first time making a major impact — beyond education, Scott’s donations have supported LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, community based nonprofits, and reproductive health care, among other causes. Here’s a look at where else Scott has donated throughout the years from her Yield Giving Gifts page.
- 12 Plus: $1 million in 2024
- Access Youth: $2 million in 2024
- Accion Opportunity Fund: $23 million in 2024 and $15 million in 2020
- AISES: $6 million in 2024
- America Achieves: $15 million in 2024
- Alliance for Early Success: $10 million in 2023
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago: $4 million in 2023
- Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV): $3 million in 2023
- Aunt Martha’s Health And Wellness: $9 million in 2023
- Betances Health Center: $4.2 million in 2023
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: $25 million in 2022
- Achievement Network: $15 million in 2022
- African Communities Together: $3 million in 2022
- African Population and Health Research Center: $15 million in 2022
- American Association of People with Disabilities: $3 million in 2022
- A Place Called Home: $2 million in 2021
- Achieving the Dream: $20 million in 2021
- Kaboom!: $14 million in 2021
- Equal Opportunity Schools: $8 million in 2021
- 317 Main Street Community Music Center: $1.5 million in 2021
- South Texas Food Bank: $9 million in 2020
- Goodwill Industries of East Texas: $5 million in 2020
- Arkansas Foodbank: $9 million in 2020
- Black Girls CODE: $3 million in 2020
- Banco de Alimentos Puerto Rico: $9 million in 2020
- The END Fund – Deworming Innovation Fund: $10 million in 2019
- The Nature Conservancy – Blue Bonds: $10 million in 2019