How ‘The Chronicle’ Conducted Its Survey on Foundations

The Chronicle’s annual survey is based on financial information provided by

142 of the largest private grant-making foundations in the country.

The foundations in the survey held combined assets of $193.1-billion in 2000 (not counting six foundations that did not report their fiscal-yearend asset size) and approved $8.9-billion in grants.

To be included in the survey, a foundation had to hold at least $240-million in assets or have awarded at least $11-million in grants in its most-recent fiscal year. Forty-six grant makers of that size declined to participate in the survey; figures on their 1999 assets and grant making were culled from their informational tax returns and annual reports.

Most of the foundations were selected to participate based on information supplied by the Foundation Center, in New York. The center ranked the nation’s 150 largest foundations by the size of their assets and by the amount they gave away during the year. Others were surveyed because they have ranked among the largest in the past or are expected to do so in the future.

Most of the foundations that responded said their figures for 2000 and 2001 were estimated or unaudited and could change.

Readers of the survey results should take care in comparing a foundation’s giving from year to year. A sharp decrease from one year to the next in the amount of grants approved or paid may not necessarily mean a change in the foundation’s status or giving priorities. Many foundations pledge large sums of money to be paid out over several years.

It is also important to keep in mind that foundations have different means of counting the number of grants awarded.

For example, one foundation may count each scholarship it awards as one grant, while another may count all of the money that goes to its scholarship program as a single grant. In some cases, the number of grants reported by a foundation may not reflect the number of organizations that actually receive money from the foundation, because some receive multiple awards.

At the same time, the number of grants reported in some cases may not precisely reflect the opportunities for nonprofit organizations to compete for grant money.

Since some foundations award money to their own foundation-run programs or to pre-selected organizations, all the grants do not represent proposals chosen through a competitive application process.

Officials at some of the foundations that declined to participate in the survey said they had a policy prohibiting responding to questionnaires.

Others said they had too few staff members and therefore did not have the time to respond. And yet others said they had a policy of never giving out unaudited figures.

For the 46 foundations that declined to respond to the survey, The Chronicle relied on informational tax returns and annual reports to determine asset and grant-making figures. In most cases, 1999 data were the most recent available.

The survey was compiled under the direction of Martha Voelz with the assistance of Laura Hruby, Marni Larose, Harvy Lipman, and Elizabeth Schwinn.