MacKenzie Scott’s Latest Round Gives a Big Boost to LGBTQ Groups at a Critical Moment

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LGBTQ-serving organizations were among the first groups to receive money from MacKenzie Scott, with 12 such groups receiving a collective $46 million in 2020. Since then, though, her giving to such organizations has been sporadic, backing a handful of groups focused on such issues over the following two rounds.

With her latest wave of giving, though, Scott has provided money to more LGBTQ-serving nonprofits than ever before. Twenty such groups, including six nonprofits dedicated entirely to transgender people, were included in her mid-November announcement. And while Scott’s money is definitely a welcome addition to any nonprofit’s bottom line, there are reasons to believe her giving will potentially be even more consequential for the LGBTQ organizations that have received it.

We don’t yet know how much money Scott gave to each nonprofit, most of which hadn’t yet announced their respective gifts as of this writing. But we can draw some conclusions about Scott’s LGBTQ giving priorities by looking not only at the latest list, but at the entire group of LGBTQ organizations she has funded since she got started in July 2020.

International, intersectional and trans-focused giving

The November announcement marks an increase in both international and specifically intersectional nonprofits to receive gifts from Scott. Six of the 20 LGBTQ nonprofits named in Scott’s latest announcement have explicitly intersectional, multi-identity focuses, including the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project. Money was also moved to three international groups — two organizations in Africa and one, Rainbow Railroad, that helps LGBTQ people around the globe relocate to escape state-sponsored violence.

The first wave of giving, in July 2020, included one LGBTQ international organization and none with a stated intersectional mission. The next announcement, in December 2020, didn’t include any such international or intersectional organizations, and in June 2021, two international and two intersectional groups were among the seven nonprofits focused or working on LGBTQ issues to receive checks from Scott.

The six trans-serving organizations in Scott’s latest announcement represent a sharp increase from July 2020, when three trans-serving groups were included, and from the announcements since that time during which no transgender-specific nonprofits received money — though organizations that include transgender people as part of their wider focus have been included.

Gifts for the wide world of LGBTQ interests, causes and needs

Scott’s overall giving to LGBTQ organizations has been as varied as LGBTQ movements themselves. While the groups included in the most recent announcement are mostly focused on advocacy and direct services — perhaps in response to the increasing threats to the equality and safety of sexual minorities — previous recipients have included queer performance art, theater, and an organization serving trans and queer artists. Youth and elders have also been included, with previous gifts to both the Trevor Project, a suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth, and SAGE, which serves older members of the community.

In addition to addressing a wide range of LGBTQ issues and activism through her giving, Scott has also moved money to both nationally known heavy hitters in the fight for equality, and smaller, newer and more local groups. The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lambda Legal, two long-time powerhouses of LGBTQ advocacy and legal work, were included in Scott’s earlier announcements. So was the Pride Foundation, an LGBTQ community funder serving groups in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. 

Scott’s most recent announcement includes gifts to GLAAD, the largest and most influential LGBTQ media advocacy organization, a federation that supports state-based LGBTQ advocacy groups, and the Contigo Fund, which was created after the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting to address the community’s need for healing and to fight anti-LGBTQ bigotry in Central Florida. 

In the face of right-wing attacks, a boost of credibility

There’s no doubt that Scott’s gifts will have a significant impact, at least initially, on the LGBTQ groups that have received one of her checks. This is particularly true of the smaller nonprofits that were included. The average Scott gift, which is generally at least six figures, dwarfs the entire 2020 net assets reported by The Knights & Orchids Society, a Black, trans-led Alabama AIDS service organization that was included in the most recent announcement. For the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, on the other hand, even a seven-figure check won’t be quite as ground-shaking, although it could allow the organization to greatly expand its reach.

As my colleague Phillip Rojc wrote earlier in November, the great thing about a MacKenzie Scott check is that it vastly, and even monumentally, increases a nonprofit’s bottom line for a single year. The issue, as he also pointed out, is that the societal problems that Scott hopes to address have a much longer shelf life. Threats to the legal rights and safety of LGBTQ people are no exception to that rule. This could be why, even as the overwhelming majority of recipients recently surveyed by the Center for Effective Philanthropy said Scott’s gifts made them more effective, mileage does vary. Around  24% of LGBTQ organizations said that Scott’s money had only “slightly” or “somewhat” increased their effectiveness. On the other hand, 75% said Scott’s checks had either “moderately” or “significantly” improved their effectiveness. 

But an increase in effectiveness, whether one-time or long-term, may itself be just a bonus to what Scott’s giving could achieve over the long haul, particularly for smaller, newer and trans-led groups. That’s because close to two-thirds of all of the CEP survey’s respondents said that Scott’s money will significantly strengthen their overall financial stability — and most leaders said the gift “increased their organization’s confidence or credibility.”

Of course, financial stability, a perception of credibility, and internal confidence are gold standards that all nonprofits strive for. But for LGBTQ organizations in particular, these kinds of metrics are a lifeline in the face of well-financed conservative forces that constantly trumpet the message that LGBTQ causes are supposedly controversial. When extremist religious figures and major party political candidates alike publicly question your right to exist, being able to promote the six- or seven-figure gift you’ve received from one of the world’s most famous straight, white, cis women can only be cause for celebration — and potentially, a stepping stone toward more, and more generous, support from other mainstream donors.