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The Trevor Project, known for its hotline for\u00a0LGBTQ+\u00a0youth, received $45 million from billionaire and author\u00a0MacKenzie Scott\u00a0at the end of 2025, the organization said Monday.<\/p>\n
The gift is the largest in the organization\u2019s history but also a major boon following years of management turmoil, layoffs and the\u00a0loss of significant federal funding\u00a0over the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI literally could not believe it and it took some time. I actually gasped,\u201d said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, when they were notified of Scott\u2019s gift.<\/p>\n
Scott, whose fortune largely comes from her ex-husband Amazon founder\u00a0Jeff Bezos, gave more than\u00a0$7 billion to nonprofits\u00a0in 2025, but this gift to The Trevor Project was not included among the donations she disclosed on her website in December. Scott previously gave The Trevor Project $6 million in 2020.<\/p>\n
In July, the Trump administration stopped providing specific support for gay,\u00a0trans\u00a0and gender nonconforming young people who called the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The Trevor Project was one of the organizations staffing that option and lost $25 million in funding, the nonprofit said.<\/p>\n
The Trevor Project continues to run an independent hotline for LGBTQ+ young people that Black said reaches about 250,000 young people annually, but they served another 250,000 callers through the 988 Press 3 option, which was tailored for LGBTQ+ young people.<\/p>\n
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported more than\u00a01.5 million contacts\u00a0were routed through the service between Sept. 2022 and July 2025.<\/p>\n
The Trevor Project has gone through years of internal turmoil after exploding in size from an organization with an annual budget around $4 million in 2016 to over $83 million in 2023, according to its public tax returns. The nonprofit\u2019s board removed its CEO in 2022 and has gone through a series of layoffs, including in July. Black said the project\u2019s 2026 budget was $47 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a smaller organization than we were before,\u201d Black said. \u201cAnd we will continue to be really intentional and really mindful around growth and what growth really means for the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
After it lost the 988 funding, The Trevor Project launched an emergency fundraiser that brought in $20 million to date, Black said, which they also hope Scott saw as proof that the organization was determined to stick around and make it through this period.<\/p>\n
\u201cMacKenzie Scott\u2019s folks were clear, like this gift was made for long-term impact,\u201d Black said, adding that they would take their time deciding how to use the funds.<\/p>\n
Thad Calabrese, a professor at New York University who researches nonprofit financial management, said it\u2019s not at all uncommon for nonprofits that grow very quickly to run into financial problems. But he also said the cuts and general instability\u00a0in especially federal funding for nonprofits\u00a0has upended many organizations\u2019 business models.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcademic research has often viewed public funding as very stable, as a signal to donors that you\u2019ve arrived as an organization, but the reality is you are now also open to changing political fortunes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said research is also unclear whether diversifying an organization\u2019s revenue streams is always a better financial strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re less dependent upon a few funders, but on the other hand, if you have a lot of different revenue streams, do you have the management capacity for that?\u201d Calabrese asked, speaking generally and not commenting specifically on The Trevor Project.<\/p>\n
Scott has distinguished herself among the biggest individual donors by giving large, unrestricted gifts to nonprofits, often with a focus on equity or social justice. With the exception of\u00a0an open call in 2023, she does not ask for project proposals nor accept applications.<\/p>\n
Despite the size of her gifts, which now often exceed the recipient organization\u2019s annual budget,\u00a0research from the Center for Effective Philanthropy\u00a0has found that concerns about nonprofits misusing Scott\u2019s funds or growing unsustainably have largely not been born out. That may be because Scott\u2019s team, the members of which are largely unknown, conducts extensive research on organizations before making grants.<\/p>\n
In an essay announcing her 2025 gifts, Scott said, \u201cThe potential of peaceful, non-transactional contribution has long been underestimated, often on the basis that it is not financially self-sustaining, or that some of its benefits are hard to track. But what if these imagined liabilities are actually assets? \u2026 What if the fact that some of our organizations are vulnerable can itself be a powerful engine for our generosity?\u201d<\/p>\n
Black called Scott\u2019s second gift \u201ca powerful validation,\u201d of The Trevor Project\u2019s mission and impact, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re calling this our turnaround story.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP\u2019s philanthropy coverage, visit\u00a0https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/philanthropy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Billionaire #philanthropist #MacKenzie #Scott #donates #million #LGBTQ #youth #hotline #organization #Trevor #Project<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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