VisionSpring's CEO Ella Gudwin describes Scott's support as a "big win" for the sector. "This is believed to be the largest, single private donation towardsolving the problem of uncorrected blurry vision as a poverty intervention," she says.
Most notable in Scott's gifts is the lack of any reporting requirements, something that nonprofit workers like Water For People's Williford heartily welcome.
"People don't realize how much time organizations spend on allocating restricted resources. A lot of people say, 'I want to make sure my money goes only to programming, not to overhead.' " But, she says that overhead is important — it's "salaries, fundraising and keeping lights on."
She also says that it is common for donors to have specific geographic preferences for their gift.
"If you get different restrictions, you are constantly having to reallocate resources and reserves."
Bubb says that an unrestricted approach is a blow against bureaucracy.
"Philanthropic foundations have been far too process-driven, deciding what's best for charities and making them jump through hoops with over-elaborate application arrangements."
