Money Matters: Tracking MacKenzie Scott's billions

Last year, MacKenzie Scott gave $2 billion of her wealth to charitable causes. It’s a ton of cash — but what made it even more interesting was the way she delivered it: with no strings attached.

This year, official development assistance, or ODA, is expected to fall in nearly every corner of the world, making funding from philanthropists like Scott more critical than ever before. So what did she spend her money on? As usual, we’ve got it all broken down for you.

Also in this edition: A facelift for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and — you guessed it — the ups and downs of U.S. foreign assistance (already!)

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No strings attached

That’s how MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of billionaire tech mogul Jeff Bezos, has made waves in the philanthropy world. Instead of releasing formal grant notices, she and her team search for organizations on their own — and if they find the right fit, that organization will get an unrestricted grant.

It’s an approach that’s picking up speed, with Melinda French Gates now mirroring Scott’s grantmaking style. But in the world of philanthropy — and frankly, across all kinds of funding — Scott’s giving is still somewhat revolutionary.

Last year, she gave 199 organizations a total of around $2 billion. Organizations based in the United States received the largest share of her wealth, and throughout the country, Scott focused on housing, employment, and equality.

Read: How did MacKenzie Scott spend $2 billion in grants in 2024? (Pro)

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Funding activity

We publish tenders, grants, and other funding announcements on our Funding Platform. Here are some of the ones that have been viewed the most in the past 10 days.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation has provided 120 billion Japanese yen ($767.3 million) to support green energy initiatives in India.

The United Nations is calling on international and nongovernmental organizations to submit proposals for projects to strengthen resilience and food systems in southern Afghanistan.

The United States Department of State is seeking proposals for programs that strengthen cultural ties and mutual understanding between the U.S. and Mexico.

The World Bank is providing a $20 million grant to improve public finance management and expand access to digital services in Djibouti.

USAID is granting $269 million to bolster transportation infrastructure and enhance cybersecurity in Moldova.

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A new year glow-up

 
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has got a new name — and a new budget — for 2025. Now, the world’s largest development-focused foundation will drop the “Bill & Melinda,” while moving forward with the largest wallet it’s ever had: $8.74 billion for this year alone.

The changes come after a rocky year for the now Gates Foundation, with Melinda French Gates finally leaving the helm after the founding couple’s split in 2021. She has now embarked on her own philanthropic ventures, giving $1 billion toward women’s and girls’ causes last year.

“Amid the greatest headwinds to health and development progress we’ve seen in a generation, this funding reflects our commitment to doing our part to reach people who will benefit most from innovations and programs that improve health and expand access to opportunity,” said the foundation’s CEO, Mark Suzman, in a recent statement.

Though still relatively enormous, my colleague Jessica Abrahams says the foundation’s 2025 budget is less than a 2% increase from 2024. Even so, the new figure is a third higher than it was in 2021, marking a continual increase toward the foundation’s target: $9 billion annually by 2026.

Read: Gates Foundation announces rebrand and record budget (Pro)

ICYMI: Melinda French Gates resigns from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Funding aborted

While the philanthropists have loosened their pursestrings, the U.S. government has done the opposite — even before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Last week, U.S. Sen. James Risch, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, halted $1 billion in funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, my colleague Adva Saldinger tells me. Risch said he won’t unfreeze the funds until he “can ensure that not one single American tax dollar will be used to perform or to promote abortions.”

“This committee takes oversight of U.S. foreign assistance extremely seriously. You know well that transparency and accountability are paramount to that end,” Risch told Marco Rubio,  President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, during a recent hearing.

Risch also requested that the State Department’s Office of Inspector General investigate both PEPFAR and the department’s Bureau for Global Health Security and Diplomacy, scorning “the Biden administration’s failure to hold long-standing United States laws protecting life in global health assistance.”

Read: Sen. James Risch holding $1B in PEPFAR funding

Transition time

Today sees the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States for a second time. For all federal agencies, including USAID, that means disruption. My colleague Michael Igoe has spoken to some old hands who’ve been through the process before, in order to understand what that disruption could mean for those who work with the agency, or want to.

Every transition is different, they tell him, and this one could be bumpier than others.

Read: What will the presidential transition mean for US aid implementers? (Pro)

+ On Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 12:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CET), Michael will be speaking to experts in U.S. aid to understand what challenges the sector could face in the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. Pro members can sign up here to join the conversation.

A (small) win for USAID

In other news from Washington, USAID’s latest localization report found the agency steered 11.2% of its eligible funding toward local organizations, up from 9.6% one year prior. In cash terms, that amounted to $1.9 billion — a doubling since 2021.

USAID is still falling short of its target, as the agency had hoped to channel a quarter of its eligible funding toward local groups by 2025. But for those watching USAID’s localization efforts, the uptick is a win nonetheless.

Read: What’s inside USAID’s latest localization report? (Pro)

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Thanks, but no thanks

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development last week published final ODA figures for 2023. As usual, those figures show only minor differences from preliminary numbers published last April.

While preliminary data suggested total ODA was $223.7 billion, the final data is at $223.3 billion — a rise of 1.6% in real terms from 2022.

USAID spent a little less than estimated — $64.7 billion, compared to a preliminary number of $66 billion. Germany's final spending increased from $36.7 billion to $37.9 billion.

My colleague Rob Merrick has been digging into what the figures mean for in-donor refugee costs.

Two years ago, the head of OECD’s Development Assistance Committee urged its members to “act on the side of caution” before allocating assistance to in-donor refugee costs — the money wealthy nations use to house asylum-seekers. But according to OECD’s latest data, spending hasn’t shifted.

That’s a problem, Rob explains, because in-house refugee costs swallow up almost $1 in every $7 of declared official development assistance. And while DAC members are allowed to use their aid budgets to meet such costs, they’re only supposed to do so for the first 12 months of a refugee’s arrival.
Read: OECD nations ignore call to curb raiding of aid budgets for refugees

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