National LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project announced Monday that it was the recipient of a $45 million dollar grant from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. It is the largest single gift in the organization’s history.
“A $45 million investment in The Trevor Project reflects deep confidence in our mission, impact, operations, and long-term vision,” said Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black in a statement posted on the nonprofit’s site.
The Trevor Project serves LGBTQ+ youth in the United States and Mexico and said the demand for its services remains urgent.
“While this historic contribution strengthens our ability to plan for long-term sustainability, it does not change the reality that our work is far from finished,” said Black. “Every year, an estimated 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people in the United States seriously consider suicide. In Mexico, more than half of LGBTQ+ young people reported considering suicide in the past year. Globally, we estimate 40 million LGBTQ+ youth seriously consider suicide each year. Even at our highest reach, The Trevor Project has only been able to serve a fraction of those youth. That means that hundreds of thousands of young people each year still go without the life-saving support they deserve.”
Scott’s Yield Giving organization has made more than 2,700 gifts totaling more than $26 billion, including a $6 million gift to The Trevor Project in 2020. The organization has funded dozens of LGBTQ+ groups since 2020, including The GSA Network, San Francisco Community Health Center, PFLAG and SAGE.
Local Media Foundation received a Yield Giving grant in March 2024 to support the work of several programs, including News is Out.
In a recent essay on the Yield Giving site, Scott shared thoughts about philanthropy and generosity.
“The 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,” said Scott. “But what if these imagined liabilities are actually assets? What if these so-called weaknesses foster the strengths upon which the thriving (or even survival) of our civilization depends? What if the fact that some of our organizations are vulnerable can itself be a powerful engine for our generosity?”