Bill Gates and Warren Buffett ushered in a new Gilded Era of philanthropic giving, likened in influence to the Rockefellers and Carnegies. But charity work is about to look a whole lot different as higher taxes are threatened on liberal institutions, and new methods of giving are popularized by women mega-donors.
Earlier this month, Gates announced that he would be sunsetting his foundation, giving away $200 billion by 2045 and expediting his plans to shed his $100 billion personal fortune.
“There’s an air of anticipation in terms of if and how people are going to follow in his footsteps,” Amir Pasic, dean of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, tells Fortune.
Experts agree that a shift is on the horizon—but that doesn’t mean a screeching halt to philanthropy altogether. In fact, it could open the door for a more diverse group of donors to take the lead.
“We’re likely to see more women come out of the shadows,” Pasic predicts.
“The reason this is insidious is that it’s going to really hit the big liberal foundations like Gates, Ford, and Soros,” Kathleen McCarthy, director for the center on philanthropy at CUNY, tells Fortune. “Whereas the conservative foundations are much smaller and they will pay a much lower rate.”
“[Billionaires] will start looking at alternative mechanisms once they realize that they’re going to be forced to sunset foundations,” McCarthy says. “That’s what’s being jeopardized right now.”
But some ultra-wealthy donors are already rewriting the rules; MacKenzie Scott’s “stealth giving” practice entails anonymously giving money directly to non-profits, trusting them to handle the funds as they see fit, with no expectations.
According to McCarthy, as billionaires are driven away from the foundation-based model, they are pulled towards alternative ways of giving. This includes being inspired by Scott’s inconspicuous, direct giving strategy as a way to get around the new taxes.
“I think she’s a trendsetter and sort of moral ballast to the way that Gates has been,” Bella DeVaan, associate director of the charity reform initiative at the Institute for Policy Studies, tells Fortune. “I do see that being not just a trend, but shifting common sense towards trust-based philanthropy.”
When tasked with naming the rising stars of philanthropy to fill the big shoes of Gates and Buffett, experts are already noticing a few frontrunners. The one person on everyone’s mind: charitable vagabond MacKenzie Scott.
“This is a woman making a pretty bold statement about how she’s going to give her money away: by trusting the recipients, and not asking for any reporting back,” Pasic says. “She’s in contrast to the very technocratic way that Bill Gates has approached matters.”
And in 2025—when U.S. women have even more access to wealth and power than ever before—this group will only be supercharged. Not only have they come into stable, high-paying executive positions, but many women have also grown to be financially savvy as they’ve gained control over their money and careers.
“You’ll see women becoming much more prominent mega donors,” McCarthy says. “They’re very comfortable handling money. They’re very comfortable doing research, and they’re looking for ways to change the system.”
