MacKenzie Scott surprised Columbia-based Enterprise Community Partners this fall with a new $65 million donation, the philanthropist’s second major gift to the national nonprofit.
Four years after awarding $50 million to the affordable housing and advocacy organization, representatives from Scott’s foundation phoned again on a Friday afternoon in October.
A second infusion of cash would be wired to Enterprise before the end of the year.
Scott’s gifts each broke the record for the largest single-donor grant ever received by Enterprise, which was founded in 1982 by Columbia developer James Rouse, also known for Harborplace in Baltimore, and his wife, Patty Rouse.
Enterprise said the new $65 million donation is one of Scott’s largest reported gifts to an affordable housing organization.
“Some of us probably wanted to cry for joy,” said Janine Lind, president of Enterprise’s community development division.
“This came at a moment where the affordable housing sector certainly is being put to the test and is struggling.”
Scott has recently built a reputation for disbursing millions of dollars to charities and institutions nationwide, including a number in Maryland.
The state’s historically Black colleges, universities, and several Baltimore-based organizations have received large sums from the philanthropist, who was married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and received a 4% stake in Amazon in their 2019 divorce.
Scott, estimated to be worth about $32.5 billion, has pledged to give away at least half her wealth in her lifetime.
Scott and her foundation, Yield Giving, do not comment on donations as a matter of policy.
The foundation says on its website that it has donated $17.3 billion to more than 2,300 nonprofits.
While Enterprise is based in Columbia, its work is nationwide.
According to its website, it has directed $72 billion of investment since 1982, creating more than 1 million homes. It is one of the largest nonprofit owners and developers of affordable housing in the mid-Atlantic, where Lind said it operates 116 affordable apartment communities, including about 80 in Maryland.
Lind said she sees Scott’s second gift as a show of confidence in the organization’s work and an acknowledgment that more needs to be done in the affordable housing sector.
As a condition of the 2020 gift, Enterprise leaders were required to provide Scott’s foundation with annual reports on how the money was used.
Enterprise disbursed the original $50 million into markets across the country, where the funds were used to provide rental assistance during the coronavirus pandemic; establish food pantries; provide job training; expand transportation; and help development companies owned by Black people, indigenous people, and people of color, as well as faith-based organizations, build new affordable housing, Lind said.
Enterprise said some of the funds also helped the organization expand its work with Native American communities.
Enterprise officials said they are still deciding exactly how to spend Scott’s second installment, but they hope to bolster the organization’s capacity and implement a five-year strategic plan.
The plan includes goals of creating climate-resilient communities across the country and addressing supply constraints by developing underutilized land for affordable homes.
This time, the foundation isn’t asking Enterprise to produce annual reports on the impact of the gift.