Foundation Assets Rise Sharply in Southeast, but Giving Stays Relatively Low, Report Finds

Foundations in Southeastern states issued $2-billion worth of grants in 1997, an increase of 74 per cent over 1992, according to a new report by the Foundation Center.

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Big Southeastern Foundations Created in the 1980s and 1990s

Growth of Southeastern Foundations’ Assets

Over the same period, the center said, the region’s foundations saw assets more than double, to $39.1-billion.

That growth rate was the second fastest of any region in the nation, behind the Western states but well ahead of that in the Midwest and East. The Southeast remains last among the four regions, however, in the total value of foundation assets and the total amount donated, according to the report.

The Southeast is defined by the center as including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Those states now account for 15 per cent of all U.S. grant makers, the study found. The number of foundations located in the Southeast jumped by 1,100 from 1992 to 1997, reaching 6,621.

The report, Southeastern Foundations II: A Profile of the Region’s Grantmaking Community, was compiled in conjunction with the Southeastern Council of Foundations. It attributes much of the growth to the economic boom of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Most of the grant making in the Southeast occurred in four of the 12 states. Foundations in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia provided nearly three-quarters of all grant dollars and held more than 75 per cent of all assets in the region. Florida, with the most foundations (1,842), accounted for the highest total value of grants awarded. While Georgia had less than half as many foundations as Florida, institutions in Georgia held more total assets than any other Southeastern state.

As in the rest of the country, the largest share of grants by Southeastern foundations went to education. But education accounted for a far greater share in the Southeast than in other regions, with 31.5 per cent of total grants made to schools, colleges, and other education groups, compared with 23.9 per cent nationwide.

Copies of the report can be obtained from the Foundation Center, either by ordering on line at http://fdncenter.org, or by writing the Foundation Center, Department NW53, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York 10003-3076. Prepayment of $19.95 per copy is required, along with $4.50 for shipping and handling for one copy and $2.50 for each additional copy. For more information, call (800) 424-9836.