Foundation Center Releases
New Report on 2000 Giving Trends
STUDY FINDS STRONG GROWTH IN FUNDING FOR HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, AND EDUCATION
The Foundation Center has just released the
2002 edition of Foundation Giving Trends: Update on Funding Priorities,
the most comprehensive examination available of private and community foundations’
funding interests. The report documents changes in giving priorities between
1980 and 2000 by subject focus, recipient type, type of support, population
group served, and geographic focus. It also explores differences in funding
patterns by foundation size, foundation type, and—for the first time in the
new edition—by foundation region. Findings are based on grants awarded by a
sample of over 1,000 larger private and community foundations, accounting for
more than half of overall U.S. foundation giving.
Loren Renz, vice president for research at the Foundation
Center, said of the new study, “The nation experienced double-digit annual growth
in foundation giving from the mid-1990s through 2000, and this report provides
the ideal means for assessing the impact of that unprecedented jump in support.”
Additional Research on U.S. Foundations
Foundation Giving Trends is part of the annual Foundations Today Series of reports on foundation growth and trends in foundation
giving. Other reports in the series include Foundation Growth and Giving
Estimates, Foundation Yearbook, Foundation Staffing, and Foundation Reporting.
“Highlights” of Foundation Giving Trends
and other Foundation Center research publications can be accessed at no
charge from the “Researching Philanthropy” area of the Foundation Center’s Web
site, www.foundationcenter.org/research.
Key Findings from the Foundation Giving Trends Report
Funding for Health grew fastest among major
program areas, followed by the Environment and Animals and Education.
Giving for Health by sampled foundations jumped 55.9% to $3.1 billion in the
latest year, surpassing other major subject areas and the 29.7% overall increase
in grant dollars in the sample. Among health subcategories, Reproductive Healthcare,
Medical Research, and Public Health all experienced a more than doubling in
grant dollars. The Environment and Education also realized faster-than-average
growth in grant dollars in the latest year, and Education continued to account
for the largest share of support (25.2%).
Growth in international giving—both in the
U.S. and overseas—surpassed gains in domestic support.
Support for overseas recipients and for international programs in the U.S. climbed
86.4% between 1999 and 2000, from $1.3 billion to roughly $2.5 billion. As a
result, international giving as a share of overall foundation funding in the
sample rose from 11.3% to 16.3%—the highest share on record. Growth in support
for overseas recipients surpassed the overall gain with a more than doubling
in grant dollars from $430.1 million to $901.3 million. Among grants benefiting
overseas recipients was the year’s largest award: the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation’s $210.0 million grant to the Gates Cambridge Trust to endow a global
scholarship program at the post-baccalaureate level for academically gifted
students.
New regional analysis shows Western foundations
favored funding for health, while other major regions targeted education. Nearly one-third (32.1%) of Western foundations’ grant dollars supported Health
in 2000, compared to roughly one-fifth shares for funders in the Northeastern,
Midwestern, and Southern regions. Overall, three of the top five health grantmakers
in the latest year were based in the West, including the nation’s largest health
funder—the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—and the largest healthcare conversion
foundation—the California Endowment. By comparison, funders in the other major
regions allocated their largest shares of support for Education.
Support for student aid jumped to $1.1 billion. Giving by sampled foundations to organizations for student aid grew 90.5% in
the latest year, from $559.2 million to nearly $1.1 billion. This raised the
share of funding for scholarships, fellowships, and other forms of student aid
from 4.8% to 7.1% of grant dollars. Overall, 30 grants of $2.5 million or more
funded student aid in 2000—including the year’s two largest awards—up from 24
grants of this size in 1999.
Children and youth and the economically
disadvantaged benefited from record shares of grant dollars. Foundations
directed close to two-fifths (38.0%) of grant dollars to named beneficiary groups
in the 2000 sample. Children and youth continued to account for the largest
share of support, rising from 15.5 percent of giving in 1999 to a record 16.6%.
Support benefiting the economically disadvantaged nearly matched this share,
after climbing from 12.0% of dollars to a record 16.4% in 2000. In addition
to these groups, women and girls, men and boys, People with AIDS, and crime
or abuse victims also experienced gains in their shares of grant dollars.
About the Foundation Center
The Foundation Center’s mission is to support and improve
institutional philanthropy by promoting public understanding of the field and
helping grantseekers succeed. To achieve our mission, we: collect, organize,
and communicate information on U.S. philanthropy; conduct and facilitate research
on trends in the field; provide education and training on the grantseeking process;
and ensure public access to information and services through our World Wide
Web site, print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers,
and a national network of cooperating collections. Founded in 1956, the Center
is the nation’s leading authority on institutional philanthropy and is dedicated
to serving grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media,
and the general public.
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