MrBeast and the Rockefeller Foundation are teaming up to spark youth philanthropy

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NEW YORK (AP) — One of the most storied American philanthropies is teaming up with the internet's biggest creator to instill young people with a concern for what they call the world's “most vulnerable” populations.

Beast Philanthropy, the charitable organization started by MrBeast founder Jimmy Donaldson, and the Rockefeller Foundation announced a strategic partnership Monday. The idea is to pair Donaldson's unique ability to capture youth attention spans with the foundation's 112-year history of using its resources and technology to tackle global problems.

Speaking together ahead of a Nov. 21 video shoot at MrBeast's Greenville, North Carolina, studio, the partners complimented the respective strengths they hope to exchange with each other.

“I’ve spent my entire life making YouTube videos. They’ve spent their entire lives helping people," Donaldson told The Associated Press. "Obviously, they have a team who’s way more experienced than me in helping people, but being able to pull on their knowledge and wisdom is amazing.”

“I just want to download their brains into our team’s brains," he added.

Dr. Rajiv Shah, the president of the Rockefeller Foundation, said the philanthropic sector has long failed to capture “the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of young people.” He said MrBeast can help them engage young people, inspire hope and communicate their work more accessibly.

Most people have a natural desire to help others, according to Shah, but we teach ourselves that world problems are “too big and too complicated” to solve. He pointed to MrBeast's video in Zambia, where they provided a village with solar-powered electricity and clean water wells.

"What Jimmy’s already done is show that you can change that dramatically,” Shah said. "If we can get people believing that they can make a difference through this collaboration, we will have achieved something really unique and really special.”

The move signals Donaldson's continued attempts to evolve an organization with sprawling interests that include an entertainment studio, food brands, his own James Patterson book deal and, most recently, a limited time theme park in Saudi Arabia. He brought on venture capitalist Jeff Housenbold as CEO last year and then hired more new executives as a series of controversies threatened his ambitions ahead of his Amazon Prime reality game show 's release.

It's an unlikely marriage to some. The Rockefeller Foundation is a pillar of civil society established with wealth amassed by the 19th-century oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller during the Gilded Age whereas the 27-year-old Donaldson represents the 21st century “influencer” economy where entire media empires can emerge from content creators' viral stunts and the online buzz they generate.

“It’s encouraging to see an influencer like MrBeast embrace the expertise of established philanthropy — of the Rockefeller Foundation, in particular — to hone the work of his platform,” said Phila Engaged Giving founder Stephanie Ellis-Smith. “Honestly, to me, it shows a sense of humility in his approach that I personally haven’t seen before."

Ellis-Smith, who helps wealthy donors make a bigger impact, said difficult world problems require a “thoughtful approach” and not just “numbers” or “eyeballs.” But she said it’s exciting to consider the possibilities of combining MrBeast’s reach with “real expertise.”

Shah acknowledged that the Rockefeller Foundation rarely does partnerships of this kind. But he said that spending time with Donaldson and his mother, as well as watching his philanthropically minded videos, communicated the YouTube megastar's “personal commitment to philanthropy."

Shah also found a natural synergy between the MrBeast team's focus on data and Rockefeller desire to make philanthropy "results-oriented and science-based.” Donaldson's obsession with viewership metrics is well documented and the YouTube page is known for its meticulous editing to ensure fans not only click thumbnails but watch videos all the way through.

“We bring innovation, a sense of purpose and a deep commitment to measuring results to those efforts. And, over time, it’s literally helped hundreds of millions of people escape poverty, hunger and disease," Shah said. “I just think Jimmy, and the enterprise he’s built and the perspective that he brings, is totally consistent with that.”

The exact issues they plan to tackle together are still being hammered out and there is no shared grantmaking to announce yet. But Shah mentioned that the Rockefeller Foundation has a long history of combatting child hunger and noted Beast Philanthropy’s video on a school meal program.

Already, though, they have started working to combat child labor in the cocoa industry.

Through his snack company, Feastables, Donaldson says he wants to prove that chocolate can be profitable without using child labor on cacao farms. He hopes to provide farmers with living incomes, create stable economic conditions so children can go to school instead of farms and use his YouTube channel to rally consumers around fair-trade practices.

The Rockefeller Foundation has consulted MrBeast on “how they should go about the case study,” according to Donaldson. To that end, the two organizations say they will visit Ghana early next year to “learn from one another's work in development, community-led change, and global storytelling.”

Donaldson said he wants to use his influence to inspire youth to “do good and volunteer and donate and care about these projects.” But he hopes the Rockefeller Foundation can help him be more efficient and make “real, lasting change.” He said it doesn't make sense for him to “go make the same mistakes they've made a bajillion times.”

The philanthropic sector often gets “stuck in their way of doing things,” according to Giving Compass Director of Development and Philanthropic Partnerships Milan Ball, who said Monday's announcement represents a welcome change.

Ball, 28, found it especially powerful given Donaldson’s track record of raising millions in a single day. She suggested his videos don’t just reach children — an important audience for Rockefeller given Gen Z’s declining trust in institutions — but also their parents.

“We need more bridge building between generations, between the institutions that exist and then this new infrastructure that’s emerging,” she said.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.