Wed Sep 24 22:50:00 UTC 2025: **Summary:**

MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students. This donation supports the UNCF’s $1 billion fundraising campaign to strengthen its 37 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The donation will go towards a pooled endowment, aiming for $10 million per HBCU, with an annual payout of 4% to stabilize their budgets. HBCU endowments are significantly lower than those of non-HBCUs. Scott’s unrestricted giving style has proven effective, empowering recipient organizations to use the funds as they see fit. The UNCF hopes this inspires other funders to follow suit, recognizing the importance of investing in HBCUs.

**News Article:**

**MacKenzie Scott Donates $70 Million to UNCF, Boosting HBCU Endowment Drive**

**NEW YORK, NY -** Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has made a significant donation of $70 million to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), marking one of her largest single gifts and a major boost to the organization’s ambitious $1 billion fundraising campaign. The UNCF, the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships for minority students, aims to strengthen its 37 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through this initiative.

The substantial gift will be directed towards the UNCF’s pooled endowment, with a goal of establishing a $370 million fund, allocating $10 million to each member HBCU. This fund is designed to generate an annual payout of approximately 4%, providing crucial financial stability to these institutions.

“This extraordinary gift is a powerful vote of confidence in HBCUs and in the work of UNCF,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO of UNCF. “It provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our member institutions to build permanent assets that will support students and campuses for decades to come.”

The fundraising effort is critical as HBCU endowments lag significantly behind those of non-HBCUs. A 2023 study revealed that Ivy League schools received substantially more funding from large U.S. foundations compared to HBCUs.

Scott’s donation is in line with her history of supporting HBCUs, having previously donated $10 million to the UNCF in 2020. Since signing the Giving Pledge in 2019, Scott has donated over $19 billion, favoring unrestricted gifts that empower recipient organizations.

According to Phil Buchanan, president of The Center for Effective Philanthropy, which studied Scott’s giving over three years, Scott’s unusual donations financially strengthened the nonprofits that received them “Folks are pretty prudent,” he said. “This shows that if you carefully vet nonprofits, we can trust them to make good use of funds.”

The UNCF hopes Scott’s generosity will inspire other funders to recognize the importance of investing in HBCUs and supporting their mission of providing quality education to minority students. “By entrusting UNCF to decide how best to use these funds, she affirms that HBCUs merit investment at this scale,” Lomax added.

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