Benefits Data Trust is shutting down in 60 days
The Philadelphia organization provided no details for the abrupt move.
Benefits Data Trust, which received a $20 million no-strings attached grant from MacKenzie Scott in 2022, announced Tuesday that it will wind down its operations in 60 days.
“A perfect storm of circumstances led to this decision, which the board unanimously approved,” the Philadelphia nonprofit said in a statement e-mailed to The Inquirer. BDT, which helps people access government benefits under contracts with states and health insurers, said it would provide no further comment.
Employees received an email Tuesday afternoon saying their last day would be Aug. 24. Two years ago, BDT employed 340, but the organization has had two rounds of layoffs since late last year. Some had their last day on June 14.
» READ MORE: Benefits Data Trust is leaving employees and supporters in the dark over abrupt closure
A board document obtained by The Inquirer showed that as of October, BDT was on track to report a $9.8 million loss for 2023. Final 2023 financial results were not available. BDT’s 2022 audited financial statement showed that it had $46 million in revenue, up from $28 million the year before. The grant from Scott caused the big gain.
BDT parted ways with its CEO Trooper Sanders two weeks ago, replacing him on an interim basis with Wendy Starner, who had been the organization’s chief financial officer.
Warren Kantor, a former credit card executive, founded BDT in 2005. He wanted to see whether marketing techniques used to sell people credit cards could help find seniors and others who needed help signing up for benefits. Kantor was motivated by the challenge of helping his widowed mother sign up for a prescription drug benefit.
Kantor and Sanders did not immediately respond to voice mail requests for comment. An attempt to reach a representative for Scott was unsuccessful.