Fewer Funds Issue Annual Reports, Study Finds

Sixteen percent of foundations have issued printed annual reports on their finances this year, a sharp decline

from the portion that did so a decade ago, according to a new study by the Foundation Center. In 1993, 26 percent of foundations issued such reports, according to the center.

While the distribution of annual reports appears to be slowing, the study found that a growing share of foundations maintain Web sites, a possible alternative means of distributing financial information.

The Foundation Center report noted that while the share of foundations that issued publications dropped slightly this year from 2002, the actual number of foundations that did so increased to 3,279 — 21 more than last year.

Still, the number of foundations issuing public reports is not keeping pace with the growth in the number of foundations in the United States. The Foundation Center noted that the 20,716 foundations included in the survey have at least $1-million in assets or plan to distribute at least $100,000 this year, and accounted for over 60 percent of foundation giving in 2001, the last year for which fiscal data were available. In 1993, 9,424 foundations met that standard.

The study also found that the number of funds that expect to issue annual reports, the most detailed publications showing financial information and grant-making trends, is rising to 1,519, from 1,495 in 2002.

The decrease in the share of foundations issuing print publications results from two trends, the Foundation Center said: The number of new, small foundations is growing quickly and many do not feel they have sufficient resources to spend on printing annual reports.

What’s more, many are turning to the Internet, because it offers greater flexibility and lower costs in providing information. The number of foundations that maintain Web sites has increased to 1,566 this year, or 7.6 percent, from 840 in 2000, or 4.6 percent of surveyed foundations.

Highlights of the report, “Foundation Reporting: Update on Public Reporting Trends of Private and Community Foundations,” are available free on the Foundation Center’s Web site at http://www.fdncenter.org/research. The report can be obtained by subscribing to the Foundation Today Series, a collection of five annual reports, for $95. Orders can be placed online or with the Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue, Dept. ST, New York, N.Y., 10003-3076; (800) 424-9836; fax (212) 807-3691.

FOUNDATIONS: HOW THEY REPORT TO THE PUBLIC