Read with verses 25 and 26, which develop the same paradox about generosity.
Quick answer
The counterintuitive observation: open-handed people often end up with more, and tight-fisted people often end up with less. The verse states it as something noticed, not as a technique.
Read both lines
"Scatters" is sowing language, a farmer throwing seed away in order to have anything at all, and that image is the whole argument. The second half is careful: not simply withholding but withholding more than is right, a hoarding past the point of prudence. What the verse describes is a real pattern anyone who has watched generous and stingy people over decades will recognize. The generous accumulate goodwill, partners, and people willing to help them; the tight-fisted slowly run out of both.
Related: Proverbs 11:25 · Proverbs 11:26 · 2 Corinthians 9:6–7
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.