Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is joining forces with one of America’s oldest philanthropic institutions to inspire young people to take action on global challenges.
According to The Associated Press, Beast Philanthropy, Donaldson’s charitable organization, announced Monday a strategic partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, combining his ability to captivate youth audiences with the foundation’s 112-year history of addressing worldwide issues.
Speaking ahead of a Nov. 21 video shoot at his Greenville, North Carolina, studio, Donaldson and Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Rajiv Shah highlighted the strengths each brings to the collaboration.
“I’ve spent my entire life making YouTube videos. They’ve spent their entire lives helping people,” Donaldson said. “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.” He added, “I just want to download their brains into our team’s brains.”
Shah emphasized that philanthropy has often struggled to engage young people. “Most people have a natural desire to help others, but we teach ourselves that world problems are too big and too complicated to solve,” he said.
Shah pointed to MrBeast’s video in Zambia, which provided a village with solar electricity and clean water wells, as a demonstration that large-scale change is possible.
“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 partnership arrives as Donaldson continues to expand his ventures, which include an entertainment studio, consumer brands, a book deal, and a temporary theme park in Saudi Arabia.
He has also added executives to Beast Philanthropy to strengthen the organization ahead of upcoming projects, including an Amazon Prime reality show.
While the Rockefeller Foundation is historically cautious with partnerships, Shah said Donaldson’s passion for philanthropy and data-driven approach created a natural synergy.
“Jimmy, and the enterprise he’s built and the perspective that he brings, is totally consistent with that,” Shah said.
The two groups are already tackling child labor in the cocoa industry. Through Donaldson’s snack company, Feastables, he aims to demonstrate that chocolate can be produced ethically while providing farmers with fair incomes and keeping children in school.
The organizations plan to visit Ghana early next year to learn from one another’s development and storytelling strategies.
Donaldson said the goal is to motivate youth to “do good and volunteer and donate and care about these projects,” while leveraging Rockefeller’s expertise to make a lasting impact.
“It doesn’t make sense for me to go make the same mistakes they’ve made a bajillion times,” he said.
