Friday, May 9, 2008

US Foundation Giving Up 10%

As recently reported by the Foundation Center, the USA’s 72,000 grant-making organizations increased their giving by 10% in 2007 to $42.9 billion. The 2008 edition of Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates found that a nearly 12% growth in foundation assets in 2006 — the first double-digit gain in assets since 1999 — contributed to the increase. The establishment of new foundations, while occurring more slowly than during the late 1990s and early 2000s, also helped to raise the level of foundation giving.

According to the report, independent and family foundations — which represent almost 90% of all private foundations in the U.S. — increased their giving by 12.7% in 2007, compared to a 9% increase in 2006; community foundations boosted their giving by 13.9% — the fourth consecutive year of double-digit increases and a slight increase over the 11.8% jump in 2006; and corporate foundation giving rose 6.6%, following a modest 2.6% increase in 2006.

According to the survey, foundation assets grew an estimated 9 percent in 2007, to a record $670 billion, which suggests that foundation giving overall will show positive, albeit modest, growth this year.

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