Last week, Money Matters brought you news of MacKenzie Scott’s spending. Now it’s the turn of her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos, who’s committed $10 billion to climate causes.
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Amazon saves climate
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Jeff Bezos, boss of Amazon, was the world’s richest man when he pledged $10 billion to climate causes in 2020. So far, his organization, the Bezos Earth Fund, has agreed grants worth $1.7 billion. But where has the money been spent, and which organizations have received funding? My colleague Alecsondra Kieren Si has all the details.
Read: What's inside the $10B Bezos Earth Fund? (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 which have been viewed the most in the past 10 days.
The Asian Development Bank has approved a $148.5 million loan to strengthen and modernize the power distribution system in India.
The African Development Bank has pledged $2 billion toward promoting safe alternatives for clean cooking solutions in Africa.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is accepting proposal applications from firms or organizations to support and contribute to the operationalization of the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change.
The Global Environment Facility is inviting qualified firms to submit an expression of interest for a formative evaluation on its food systems programs.
USAID intends to award up to $325 million to accelerate health system strengthening efforts worldwide.
The World Bank has approved a €23.1 million ($25.1 million) loan to address key challenges in land administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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MCC
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an interesting funder, with a different business model to other major U.S. aid providers. It works through long-term global compacts, and forms partnerships with countries over many years.
It still does tender contracts, though, and it currently has almost $550 million in the pipeline. Once again, we’ve been hard at work understanding who’s getting the cash. My colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan has the answers.
Read: How MCC plans to spend almost $550 million in the coming months (Pro)
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DT Institute CEO goes
The chief executive of DT Institute has stepped down, less than a year after joining, only days after Devex revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating links between the organization and its for-profit affiliate, DT Global. Both organizations have received millions in funding from USAID.
Pia Wanek joined DT Institute last year during a lawsuit which alleged that the for-profit company, DT Global, was misusing its nonprofit affiliate for commercial gain. The suit was withdrawn after DT Institute agreed to change its bylaws. But Devex recently revealed a new investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Read: DT Institute CEO resigns amid Justice Department investigation
The rules of giving
Last week I sat down with two experts on philanthropy to talk, among other things, about how money might be given away better. As is often the case, the talk turned to MacKenzie Scott, who’s pioneered a novel approach using trust-based philanthropy. Her grants are long-term, unrestricted, and don’t cost much in terms of overhead for the organization receiving the money. These, and other points, were identified by the speakers as objectives that more philanthropists could work toward.
Read: MacKenzie Scott has lessons for philanthropists. Are they listening? (Pro)
ICYMI: MacKenzie Scott gave away over $2B last year. Where did it go? (Pro)
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About the author
David Ainsworth@daveainsworth4
David Ainsworth is business editor at Devex, where he writes about finance and funding issues for development institutions. He was previously a senior writer and editor for magazines specializing in nonprofits in the U.K. and worked as a policy and communications specialist in the nonprofit sector for a number of years. His team specializes in understanding reports and data and what it teaches us about how development functions.
