MacKenzie Scott gave $60 million for disaster recovery. Here's why the years after the headlines matter most

A hurricane hits, or a wildfire wipes out a town, and for a few days the whole world is watching. Then the cameras leave.

What happens to the families later? Their hardest part comes after the flames die down or the floodwater recedes.

Rebuilding a home, reopening a shop, replacing lost income takes years, not weeks. And that's exactly the gap MacKenzie Scott's $60 million gift could help fill.


On October 28, 2025, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) that Scott and her organization, Yield Giving, had given it $60 million. It's the biggest single gift in CDP's history.

The best part? It's no-strings giving. No one hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake gets the money by default. CDP decides where it matters most.

Why Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP)?

CDP works with donors, foundations, and local groups on disaster preparedness, recovery, and resilience, in the US and abroad. It doesn't just ship emergency supplies. It helps communities rebuild homes, restore livelihoods, and brace for the next disaster.

MacKenzie Scott is a repeat donor. She gave $10 million in 2020 for COVID-19 response and $3 million in 2022 for Ukraine, bringing her total to $73 million. But those gifts came with strings. This one doesn't.

According to an Associated Press report, CDP can even use some of it for general operating costs like staffing, something nonprofits rarely get funded for.

That matters. Recovery takes people: someone to coordinate programs, connect survivors with help, and keep projects moving for years.

Relief v/s recovery

Relief is the first wave: food, water, shelter, medical care. Recovery is everything after.

Picture a family whose home burned down. Months later, they're still battling insurance claims and construction costs. Or a shop owner whose store flooded, who needs repairs and then customers.

Yet recovery gets the short end of the funding stick. CDP's State of Disaster Philanthropy 2025 report found that disaster donations made up just 0.9% of the $135.3 billion in philanthropy tracked for 2023, about $1.2 billion. Only 12.7% of that went to reconstruction and recovery. That's the highest share since 2018, and it's still small.

What recovery looks like

Take the Yadao family in Lahaina, Hawaii - They'd spent their savings making their home accessible for their grandmother. She lived there exactly one night before the August 2023 Maui wildfires destroyed it.

They couldn't afford to rebuild. Nearly three years later, with help from the Mauiakama Long-Term Recovery Group, they finally moved back into an accessible home. According to a June 2026 CDP account, a 2024 grant helped the group hire staff and coordinate rebuilding, and it directly served 1,004 people.

That grant came before Scott's gift. It's not her money at work. It simply shows what long-term funding makes possible.

Where will the money go?

CDP is already funding long-haul work. In September 2026, it announced $4 million for 18 organizations in western North Carolina, two years after Hurricane Helene. In January 2026, it announced $1.56 million for Los Angeles wildfire survivors.

Again, the North Carolina fund is backed by the Truist Foundation, and CDP hasn't publicly said which projects Scott's $60 million is paying for. But flexible money could help it keep doing this kind of work, back local partners, and respond when a community's needs shift months later.

For scale, CDP awarded $32.99 million across 158 initiatives in 2025, according to its annual impact report. That's its overall work, not Scott's gift alone.

Can donations replace government aid?

No. Private donations can't match what federal, state, and local governments provide. Nonprofit organisations fill the gaps - fulfilling needs, community groups, helping families navigate the process.

So Scott’s $60 million is significant, but it doesn’t mean every affected household will see a cheque. What it achieves will depend on how CDP allocates the money, which organisations receive it, and how well those resources help communities get back on their feet.

So what will $60 million actually achieve?

Will more families get home? Will small businesses reopen? Will communities be readier for the next storm? We'll only know as the money gets spent and the results come in.

Sources:

Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Philanthropy

Associated Press

FAQs

1. What is the significance of MacKenzie Scott's $60 million gift to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP)?
   MacKenzie Scott's $60 million gift is significant as it is the largest single donation in CDP's history and provides unrestricted funds that can be used flexibly to support long-term recovery efforts in disaster-affected communities.
2. How does recovery funding differ from disaster relief funding?
   Recovery funding focuses on long-term rebuilding efforts after a disaster, such as restoring homes and livelihoods, while disaster relief funding addresses immediate needs like food, shelter, and medical care.
3. What kind of projects could benefit from the $60 million gift from MacKenzie Scott?
   The $60 million gift could support various long-term recovery projects, including housing reconstruction, business reopening initiatives, and efforts to enhance community resilience in the face of future disasters.