WATERBURY, Conn. — A healthcare center that helps provide care to the greater Waterbury area was the recipient of more than $5 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
On Friday, Scott announced she donated $2.1 billion to 360 organizations across the world in the past year, bringing her total reported giving to more than $16 billion since 2019.
While previous announcements have included detailed essays about the reasons for her donations, Scott offered only a three-sentence post titled “(Giving Update)” this year, writing, “Excited to call attention to these 360 outstanding organizations, every one of whom could use more allies.”
She added, “Inspired by all the ways people work together to offer each other goodwill and support.”
Among the organizations to receive a donation was StayWell Health Center, which is primarily based out of Waterbury.
Scott’s gift also includes three donations of $25 million to affordable housing nonprofit Mercy Housing, reproductive care organization Upstream USA, and youth training group Year Up. It's not known if those are the largest gifts made in the past year as the database of gifts on the website withheld the amount donated to more than 100 of the recipients in 2023, with the explanation, “Disclosure delayed for benefit of recipient.”
The brevity of the announcement stood out compared to how other philanthropists publicize their work, said Gabrielle Fitzgerald, founder and CEO of The Panorama Group, which has researched the impact of Scott's gifts on nonprofits.
“My word count had that it was 54 words," she said. "It’s almost like a haiku.”
The gifts were consistent with Scott's focus on economic security, education, equity and health, Fitzgerald said, though there were many this round that went to organizations that describe themselves as working on health. Scott also supported several organizations that work on caste equity.
According to her website, Scott has made donations to 11 other organizations in Connecticut, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County, and the YMCA Hartford Region.
According to a Center for Effective Philanthropy report released in November, Scott’s giving is “unprecedented” because she provides “meaningfully sized” donations to groups without any restrictions.
The report also addressed concerns that Scott’s substantial donations could inadvertently hurt smaller nonprofits. They would reach a “financial cliff,” where donors stop giving because they think the group no longer needs money. However, the report found that 90% of groups receiving donations from Scott were able to change their fundraising strategies, adding that Scott’s donation gave them credibility and made fundraising easier.
Three years into Scott’s multi-billion dollar annual donations, Panorama’s Fitzgerald said it’s become clear that other donors are not following in her footsteps, in making large, unrestricted grants to organizations.
“It’s a one-time thing,” she said. “And so how you think about spending the money should be really with the idea that this is a very amazing and wonderful opportunity that’s not the beginning of a new trajectory for most people.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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