Sep. 12—DULUTH — The Entrepreneur Fund received a $9 million unrestricted gift from Yield Giving, an organization established by billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
The donation will allow EFund to "further its mission of supporting small businesses and driving economic growth in underserved communities across Minnesota and Wisconsin," a news release from EFund states.
The donation was received on Sept. 5 and was part of Yield Giving's "Quiet Research" process, according to the news release. Yield Giving conducts private research to identify nonprofits with "high potential for sustained positive impact." The Duluth organization was selected without submitting an application or solicitation, and the gift comes with no restrictions.
"It was sort of a surprise to receive it, and we just got it a week ago, so we'll sort through the best ways to use it," said Shawn Wellnitz, CEO of EFund. "It's fair to say that at EFund we have to leverage a lot of outside dollars to do what we do. In any given year, we lend out usually $25 million and serve usually around 1,000 to 1,500 entrepreneurs, so we'll certainly put some of these dollars to leveraging that."
Wellnitz called the gift a "game changer" and said it will also help in other ways in support of EFund's priorities such as business succession and growth.
"Details to follow for sure, since we just got the news," Wellnitz said.
To date, Scott has donated over $17 billion to more than 2,300 nonprofit organizations.
From 2021 to 2023, EFund served over 3,400 entrepreneurs and extended nearly $74 million in loans to businesses in varied stages.
"This work is not done alone," Crystal Rohde, EFund board chair, said in a statement, "and this gift is a testament to our strong partnerships and the work we've achieved together so far."