FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 2002
CONTACT:
Steven Lawrence, Director of Research
The Foundation Center (212) 807-2410
e-mail: sal@foundationcenter.org
Web: www.foundationcenter.org
WEST CONTINUES TO LEAD IN GROWTH OF FOUNDATION GIVING
AND ASSETS
The Foundation Center has just released the 2002 edition of Foundation Yearbook: Facts and Figures on Private and Community Foundations, the premier source of information
on the nation’s more than 56,600 active private and community foundations. The
report measures the size and scope of the U.S. foundation community in 2000
and examines growth patterns in foundation number and resources since 1975.
It also provides detailed comparisons of foundations by foundation size, foundation
type, and foundation region. In addition, the report includes estimates of foundation
giving in 2001 and an assessment of prospects for future growth in foundation
giving.
Loren Renz, vice president
for research at the Foundation Center, said of the new study, “We are in a different
era for all types of charitable support, including foundation giving. This new
report documents foundation resources in the final year of the recent boom and
also provides a thoughtful look at what nonprofits can expect in the near future.”
Additional Research on U.S. Foundations
Foundation Yearbook is part of the annual Foundations Today Series of reports on foundation growth and
trends in foundation giving. Other reports in the series include Foundation
Giving Trends, Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates, Foundation Staffing,
and Foundation Reporting.
“Highlights”
of Foundation Yearbook and other Foundation Center research publications
can be accessed at no charge from the “Researching Philanthropy” area of the
Foundation Center’s Web site, www.foundationcenter.org/research.
Key Findings from the Foundation Yearbook Report
Western
foundations continue to report fastest growth in number and resources. Led by Washington State and California,
the West continued to show the fastest growth in foundation number, assets,
and giving in 2000. Overall, giving by foundations in the West jumped 31.1%
between 1999 and 2000, compared to an 18.2% gain for all U.S. foundations. Among
individual states, Washington State reported the fastest growth in giving. Still,
increased funding by just one grantmaker—the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation—accounted for nearly all of this increase. Moreover, despite
the faster increase in the rate of foundation giving in the West in the
latest year, the Northeast accounted for the biggest increase in actual grant
dollars.
Community
foundations in the Midwest and West account for larger shares of giving than
in other regions.
Independent foundations provided more than seven out of ten grant dollars in
2000 in each of the four major U.S. regions. Nonetheless, community foundations
in the Midwest and West regions accounted for one-in-ten grant dollars, compared
to less than one-in-eight for foundations overall. Moreover, close to half of
U.S. community foundations were based in the Midwest in the latest year. Similarly,
corporate foundations in the Midwest provided a much greater share of giving
in that region (15.5%) than did corporate foundations in the South (12.4%),
Northeast (10.8%), and West (4.5%).
Family
foundations represent roughly half of all independent foundation giving and
assets. In
2000, the U.S. foundation community included more than 24,400 “family foundations,”
i.e., independent foundations with measurable donor or donor-family involvement
in their governance. These foundations provided over half (53.0%) of independent
foundation giving and held close to half (48.4%) of their assets. In addition,
nearly seven out of ten dollars received by independent foundations into their
endowments in the latest year targeted family foundation.
Foundation giving expected to increase modestly in 2001 but remain flat
in 2002. Despite the onset of a recession, continuing stock market declines,
and national paralysis immediately following the September 11th terrorist
attacks, U.S. foundations managed to follow five straight years of double-digit
giving increases with a 5 percent gain in giving in 2001. Overall giving totaled
an estimated $29.0 billion. Continued higher spending by several leading foundations
(often fulfilling commitments made in the boom years of the late 1990s), exceptional
giving in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and newly established independent
foundations all contributed to this increase in giving. Looking ahead, a weak
recovery from the nation’s first recession in ten years and two years of roiling
instability in the stock market suggest that foundation giving will remain flat
at best in 2002. Still, over the long term, modest growth in foundation giving
appears likely.
Growth
in corporate foundation giving lags behind independent and community foundations.
Giving by America’s 2,018 active corporate foundations grew an estimated 2.6%
in 2001 or –0.2% after inflation. By comparison, independent foundation giving
rose an estimated 5.4% between 2000 and 2001, while community foundation giving
increased 4.6%. The slower rate of growth in giving by corporate foundations
reflected their greater vulnerability to reduced profits. Balancing out this
negative force, however, was the tremendous outpouring of support by corporations,
including giving through corporate foundations, in response to the 9/11 attacks.
About the Foundation Center
The Foundation Center’s mission is to support and improve
institutional philanthropy by promoting public understanding of the field and
helping grantseekers succeed. To achieve our mission, we collect, organize,
and communicate information on U.S. philanthropy; conduct and facilitate research
on trends in the field; provide education and training on the grantseeking process;
and ensure public access to information and services through our World Wide
Web site, print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers,
and a national network of cooperating collections. Founded in 1956, the Center
is the nation’s leading authority on institutional philanthropy and is dedicated
to serving grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media,
and the general public.
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