Foundation Giving Rose 17% Last Year, to $22.8-Billion, Report Says

The robust U.S. economy helped to increase foundation giving by 17.2 percent last year,

to an estimated $22.8-billion, according to a new report.

That jump followed a record 21.7-percent gain in 1998, for a combined two-year increase of 42.3 percent.

Growth was highest among corporate foundations, where giving rose by a record 22.2 percent in 1999, the Foundation Center reports in its latest annual survey of grant making.

The rise was not quite as steep among other private foundations, which saw their grants grow by 17.3 percent. But combined with the previous year’s jump of more than 20 percent, giving among those grant makers climbed by 41.6 percent from 1997 to 1999, for the largest two-year gain on record.

Growth was slowest among community foundations, where giving rose by 14.9 percent last year, following gains of 22.3 percent and 25.3 percent in the previous two years.

Growth among all types of foundations far outpaced inflation, which was 2.1 percent last year.

Besides the strong economy, the entry of new donors and new funds has also contributed to the surge in giving. The number of grant makers more than doubled from 1980 to 1998, from about 22,000 to nearly 47,000, the report says.

Assets of private foundations grew by 15.7 percent in 1998, to $326.9-billion, while their average giving rate also rose slightly, from 5.3 to 5.4 percent of total assets.

Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: 1999 Preview is part of the Foundations Today Series published by the Foundation Center. It is available, together with the four other reports in the series, from the Foundation Center, Dept. NA4, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York 10003-3076. Credit-card orders may also be placed by calling (800) 424-9836 or (212) 807-3690, or by fax at (212) 807-3691. The cost is $95, prepaid, for the series. The report may also be downloaded from the Foundation Center’s Web site, http://fdncenter.org.