Over the past decade the share of larger U.S. foundations reporting staff declined from close to one-in-four (22.5%) in 1991 to one-in-six (16.5%) in 2001. The boom in new foundation creation during this period far outpaced increases in the number of staffed foundations. Still, the share slipped by only .1% in the latest year, and the actual number of staffed foundations rose to 3,123. The number of staff employed by these funders also grew to 17,013 in 2001, up by more than 1,500 staff from 15,471 in 2000. This represented the largest annual increase in number of staff ever reported by the Foundation Center.

"We expect the share of foundations reporting staff to begin to rebound in the next few years," notes Loren Renz, Vice President for Research at The Foundation Center. "Growth in the number of larger foundations has been exceptional, and it takes time for these new grantmakers to determine whether they need assistance and what form that support should take." Renz adds that some foundations, especially smaller family foundations, operate entirely through volunteer labor. As foundations grow in size, however, "the services of paid staff can become increasingly necessary."

Foundation Staffing: Update on Staffing Trends of Private and Community Foundations, 2001 Edition, examines changes in the staffing patterns of U.S. foundations over the past decade. Part of the Foundation Center's Foundations Today Series of annual research publications, Foundation Staffing provides comparisons of foundation staffing by asset size; period of establishment; regional location; and foundation type. The report also includes information on foundation boards of trustees.

Data for the nearly 19,000 active foundations included in this report come from the Foundation Center's annual surveys of private and community foundations awarding at least $50,000 in giving or holding assets of $1 million or more. To maintain consistency with historical Foundation Center data on staffing, this analysis limits its scope to those foundations with at least $100,000 in giving or holding assets of $1 million or more.

Staffed Foundations Average 5.5 Employees, While Most Report Two or Fewer Employees
Staffed foundations employed an average of 5.5 staff in the latest year to develop projects, review and investigate proposals, and work with the public. Nonetheless, among the 3,123 larger grantmakers reporting staff in 2001, nearly two out of three (63.4%) employed two or fewer staff. Approximately one-in-thirteen foundations (7.8%) indicated a staff size of ten or more; while 30 employed a staff of 50 or more. Yet this represented more than double the 12 foundations reporting staff of this size in 1991.

Foundation Staffing Compares Staffing Patterns by Foundation Size, Age, Regional Location, and Type

Among the many other findings presented in Foundation Staffing are:

• Larger Foundations More Likely to Employ Staff: Over three-quarters (76.0%) of foundations with at least $100 million in assets in 2001 reported paid staff. The proportion declined steadily for foundations with smaller endowments. Those foundations with at least $100 million in assets-2.9% of surveyed foundation-also accounted for 9,856 staff or nearly three-fifths (57.9%) of the 17,013 staff employed by all foundations.
  
  
• Older Foundations More Likely to Employ Staff: Two-fifths (40.3%) of surveyed foundations established before 1950 employed paid staff in 2001. By comparison, one-quarter (25.0%) of foundations established between 1950 and 1979 and less than one-ninth (10.8%) of grantmakers established since 1979 reported staff. Moreover, older foundations employed an average of 9.5 staff, far exceeding those established between 1950 and 1979 (5.9 staff) and since 1979 (3.2 staff).
  
  
• Foundations in the West and South More Likely to Employ Staff: Despite the concentration of larger and older foundations in the Northeast and Midwest, the West and South reported larger shares of staffed foundations. Overall, close to one-in-five (18.9%) Western foundations employed staff, followed by the South (17.3%), Midwest (16.6%), and Northeast (14.6%). This finding suggests a willingness among funders in the West and South to bring on staff earlier in their development. For the South, it may also reflect a greater concentration of corporate and community foundations, which are more likely to employ paid staff.
  
  
• Community and Corporate Foundations More Likely to Employ Staff: In 2001, close to nine out of ten (83.0%) surveyed community foundations reported paid staff. This finding reflects the multiple activities of community foundations beyond grantmaking, such as cultivating and servicing new donors. Corporate foundations-which are funded by a parent company, although they remain separate legal entities-followed with more than one out of four (25.6%) employing staff dedicated primarily to the administration of their foundations. In contrast, only about one- in-seven (13.9%) independent foundations, including the great majority of small foundations, indicated that they employed paid staff.
  

About the Foundations Today Series

The successor to the Foundation Center's popular Foundation Giving report, the Foundations Today Series provides the latest information on foundation growth and trends in foundation giving. The five reports in this annual series—Foundation Giving Trends, Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates, Foundation Yearbook, Foundation Staffing, and Foundation Reporting—present detailed analyses of foundation grantmaking trends based on a sample of larger U.S. foundations, examine growth in the resources of active U.S. foundations, identify differences among grantmakers by foundation type, document foundation staffing patterns, and explore foundation reporting practices.

"Highlights" of Foundation Yearbook can be accessed at no charge from the Researching Philanthropy area of the Foundation Center's Web site.

Ordering Information

Orders for the Foundations Today Series may be charged with VISA, MasterCard, or AMEX by calling our toll-free number, 800-424-9836 (in New York, call 212-807-3690); by faxing your request (with return address and credit card number) to 212-807-3691; by using our on-line order form; or by mailing orders to the Foundation Center, Dept. NO11, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003-3076. Prepayment of $95.00 is required. Make checks payable to the Foundation Center. Discounts are available for multiple-subscription orders. Please call 800-424-9836 for details.

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