Despite environmental issues being a small part of philanthropic, Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, sees a recent shift in how people have started thinking differently about the environment due to climate change.

For some corporations, the pandemic and protests led them to face “the kinds of really difficult social issues” that many had previously preferred not to engage with, said Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Berman suggested that some pressure has come from millennial and Generation Z consumers who increasingly want the money they spend and invest to be used in ways consistent with their values. 

Giving experts say they think the trend toward broader giving is likely to persist. “I don’t think this approach is just a 12-month moment that started with COVID and continued following George Floyd and is going to recede,” says Melissa Berman, president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which counsels donors around the world. 

MacKenzie Scott’s gifts this year approach $6 billion, which “has to be one of the biggest annual distributions by a living individual” to working charities, according to Melissa Berman, chief executive officer of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Berman said Scott’s donations show that it’s possible to give large amounts quickly without requiring nonprofits to “jump through a lot of hoops to get the money.”