Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has announced that she will be donating $640 million to 361 nonprofits through her organization, Yield Giving and Lever for Change.

This decision came after an open call for applicants, which received over 6,000 submissions. Scott ended up giving more than double the original planned amount, which was 250 awards of $1 million each. Lever for Change, the organization managing the open call, stated that they expanded the awardee pool and award amount based on the incredible work of the organizations as judged by their peers and external panelists.

Scott's approach to philanthropy differs from that of her ex-husband Jeff Bezos, as she distributes her donations to hundreds of smaller organizations rather than making large, singular contributions. This recent $640 million donation aims to support various causes such as gender equality, with organizations receiving different amounts based on their ratings by their peers and a panel of external judges.

In total, Scott has donated over $2.15 billion in the past year through her organization, Yield Giving. Including previous years, her total donations amount to more than $3.8 billion to 465 organizations. Notable recipients include Habitat for Humanity and Girl Scouts of the USA. Scott's current net worth is estimated at $36.2 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.