Unexpected consequences of MacKenzie Scott’s big donations to housing nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity
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You might’ve read that MacKenzie Scott, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, is making huge donations to some nonprofit organizations, including?donating $436 million to Habitat for Humanity . Relative to buying a giant yacht, or yet another Manhattan aerie, or giving money to universities so wealthy that they can’t spend the endowments they have and are so bureaucratic that they can’t support their own researchers during a pandemic, that’s a great thing to do. This isn’t a “you suck” post, because she doesn’t and I like her unusual approach to philanthropy. But there are two notable undercurrents that the lightly edited press releases don’t cover—likely because journalists know little about how nonprofits work or the American housing market—one is the distortion effect on many competing local nonprofits, and the other is the challenge of pouring more money into a constrained, near-zero-sum system.
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Director, Business Development and Policy Administration
1 年Great post. There's one other concern I would like to add to the discussion: accountability (or lack thereof). Scott is not requiring ANY accountability that I can discern. This approach is very dangerous. In my 40-year nonprofit career, I have seen many nonprofits go down the drain when there is a sudden influx of significant funding. Usually, the downfall is caused by financial mismanagement or unethical moves. In the latter case, I have seen otherwise competent CEOs get fired and the board chair took over (with a handsome six-figure salary). Then, reflecting the lack of knowledge or experience in managing nonprofit programs, the organization closes its doors a year or so later. It is a very sad reality that too many people put greed above mission. Some kind of accountability--in all sectors, including government and the private sector--helps keep bad actors in check.