MacKenzie Scott’s gifts come with no strings—but the four biggest donors to democracy programs put $189 million into institutes bearing their names

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: Rather than funding a specific program with her name attached, she typically gives unrestricted money and lets recipients decide how to spend it. 

For example, Democracy........

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