Study Examines How Much of Health Grants Goes to the Needy

Thirty-one percent of foundations that give money to improve people’s health direct at least half of those grant dollars to poor communities, according to a new study by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a watchdog group in Washington.

Meanwhile, 4 percent give at least a quarter of their health grants to advocacy and organizing work.

The report urges grant makers to focus more attention on the needy and on advocacy as a follow-up to a controversial 2009 report by the committee that encouraged foundations to direct at least 50 percent of their grant dollars to help people at the lowest income levels and at least 25 percent to advocacy. Some donors saw the report’s recommended guidelines as arbitrary and overly prescriptive.

The study of health giving was based on data from 880 foundations. Of that sample, 22 grant makers met both standards advocated by the committee. Those grant makers included the California Endowment, the Colorado Trust, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.

The study is the second in a series intended to assess how effectively foundations are tackling social problems; the first report focused on education.