Science and Health Led Rebound in Foundation Giving in 2004
New York, N.Y., March 06, 2006.—Following a two-year decline, foundation support for most major program areas rebounded in 2004, according to Foundation Giving Trends: An Update on Funding Priorities, a new report from the New York-based Foundation Center. Grant dollars awarded by the largest private and community foundations increased 8 percent between 2003 and 2004, while the number of grants increased 5 percent. Among major program areas, science and health experienced the fastest growth in grant dollars.
Contributing to the rise in giving for health was a $750 million ten-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the DC-based Vaccine Fund to support the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). This grant helped to raise health’s share of overall giving from 19.5 percent to a record 22.3 percent in the latest year. With its focus on improving access to child vaccines in the poorest countries in the world, it also led to record levels of support for children and youth and the economically disadvantaged.
Foundation Giving Resources
Foundation Giving Trends documents all of the grants of $10,000 or more awarded by 1,172 of the largest U.S. foundations in 2004 and tracks changes in funding trends since 1995. Grant dollars awarded by these funders totaled $15.5 billion and represented roughly half of overall U.S. foundation giving. The report examines giving by subject focus, recipient type, type of support, population group served, and geographic focus. It also details differences in funding trends by foundation size, region, and type, and includes snapshots of giving for social justice grantmaking, children’s health, and arts education.
Foundation Giving Trends 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 Growth and Giving Estimates (April) and Foundation Yearbook (June).
“Highlights” of Foundation Giving Trends and other Foundation Center research publications can be accessed at no charge from the “Researching Philanthropy” area of the Foundation Center’s Web site, foundationcenter.org/research. The report is available for $45 or through subscription to the three-part Foundations Today Series ($95). Discounts are available on bulk orders, which can be placed at the Foundation Center’s online Marketplace, foundationcenter.org/marketplace.
About the Foundation Center
The Foundation Center’s mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy. To achieve its mission, the Center collects, organizes, and communicates information on U.S. philanthropy; conducts and facilitates research on trends in the field; provides education and training on the grantseeking process; and ensures public access to information and services through its 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 philanthropy and is dedicated to serving grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public.
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