Profile of the Funding Community

Each year the Foundation Center analyzes and interprets the entire body of data collected on active grantmaking foundations. Specifically, the Center measures the dimensions of U.S. grantmaking foundations by overall growth, state and region, foundation type, and period of establishment. This information is published in Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates and Foundation Yearbook. Summary statistics for the latest year include the following:

• In 2010, 76,610 foundations awarded grants totaling $45.9 billion, an increase of 0.2 percent from the prior year's $45.8 billion in giving.
• Foundations experienced a 9 percent increase in assets, rising from $590.2 billion in 2009 to $644 billion in 2010.
• Gifts to foundations from their donors decreased 7.1 percent, from $40.9 billion to $38.0 billion in 2010.