MacKenzie Scott’s gifts come with no strings—but the four biggest donors to democracy programs put $189 million into institutes bearing their names
Source: Fortune ·
The four largest gifts to democracy programs from 2021 to 2025 created or expanded university institutes named for Leonard Schaeffer, the Rooneys, the Karshes, and the Kinders, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
From the source
MacKenzie Scott is one of today’s most prominent philanthropists, having given away more than $26 billion since 2019. But she does things a little differently: She typically lets recipients decide how to spend the donations. Meanwhile, many of the biggest donors to democracy programs have taken a different route by putting their names on the institutions they fund. In a new report, The Chronicle of Philanthropy counted 18 gifts of $1 million or more to democracy programs since 2006, worth a combined $369.2 million. Many of the publicly announced gifts on the Chronicle’s list went to university institutes and centers focused on democracy, government, and public policy. About 72% of that money, or $266.5 million, came from 2021 through 2025, with peak giving in 2024 at $84 million. Universities collected roughly $4 of every $5, and the four largest gifts, worth a combined $189 million, went to university institutes that carry the donors’ names. That’s a different model from Scott’s:…
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