Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $45 million to The Trevor Project, a nonprofit suicide prevention and advocacy organization for LGBTQ young people, the organization announced Monday. 

Scott’s contribution is the largest single donation made to The Trevor Project in its 27-year history, the organization’s chief executive officer, Jaymes Black, said.

Black, who called the gift “transformational,” said it comes as research points to a worsening mental health crisis among LGBTQ youth in the United States.

“This gift is a powerful step toward building on our sustainable capacity — but our organization will continue to face one of the largest public health crises of our time: LGBTQ+ youth suicide,” Black said in a statement. “Our organization must continue to innovate and connect with more LGBTQ+ young people in crises. And that requires ongoing support from those who believe in our mission.”

Black told the Associated Press that “it took some time” to process the magnitude of Scott’s donation.

“I literally could not believe it,” Black said.

Results of a study released by The Trevor Project in October found that LGBTQ youth experienced declining mental health over a period of about 18 months, from September 2023 to March 2025. The study followed more than 1,600 LGBTQ young people around the U.S. and reported increasing rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts among them over time.

Those results compounded already existing research that showed LGBTQ young people were at least four times as likely to attempt suicide compared with their peers outside of the LGBTQ community.

Black said The Trevor Project will invest Scott’s funding “with great care” and plans to release an investment plan in the coming months that focuses on bolstering its crisis support services and “accelerating our progress toward a world where every LGBTQ+ young person knows they are loved and supported.”

The Trump administration last summer terminated part of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline dedicated to LGBTQ youth, which directly impacted The Trevor Project. At the time, the organization said it would lose an estimated $25 million in federal funding as a result of the decision.

Since 2019, Scott has given roughly $26 billion in unrestricted donations to thousands of nonprofits, according to her foundation, Yield Giving. She previously donated to The Trevor Project in 2020.