(NEWSnet/AP) — Billionaire philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott is giving $640 million to 361 small non-profits that responded to an invitation for applications.

Yield Giving’s first round of donations is more than double what Scott initially pledged.

Since donations began in 2019, Scott and her team have selected organizations without an application process and provided them with large, unrestricted gifts.

Scott posted on her website she is grateful for Lever for Change, the organization that managed the open call, and the evaluators for their roles in creating a pathway to support.

More than 6,300 non-profit groups applied to the $1 million grants when applications opened.

The 279 nonprofits that received top scores from an external review panel were awarded $2 million. Eighty-two organizations in a second tier received $1 million each.

The awardees were selected through a multilayer process, in which applicants scored fellow applicants. Next, the top organizations were reviewed by a panel of outside experts.

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