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Posted on February 21, 2007 Foundation Support for Most Program Areas Up in 2005, Report Finds Foundation giving in most program areas rose in 2005, with international affairs and the environment experiencing the fastest growth in funding, a new report released by the New York City-based Foundation Center finds. Part of the Foundations Today Series of reports prepared annually by the Foundation Center, Foundation Giving Trends: Update on Funding Priorities (4 pages, PDF) provides a comprehensive analysis of all grants of $10,000 or more awarded in 2005 by 1,154 of the largest private and community foundations in the United States and tracks changes in funding trends since 1996. According to the 2007 edition of the report, for the first time corporate foundations gave a larger share of their grant dollars for international affairs than other types of funders, reflecting the support they provided in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. The report also found that grant dollars awarded by sampled foundations rose 6.1 percent in 2005, following an 8.1 percent gain in 2004, and that foundations awarded a record 308 grants of $5 million or more. In addition, grant dollars awarded for international affairs, development, and peace jumped nearly 41 percent, to a record $591.2 million, boosted in part by tsunami-related giving and increased funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while the share of grant dollars allocated to capital projects rose to 18.5 percent, following five consecutive years of decline. "Foundations appeared to be more optimistic, as indicated by the record number of very large grants and the rebound in giving for capital projects," said Josie Atienza, assistant director of research at the Foundation Center and the principal author of the report. "Foundations also provided substantial funding in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami and Gulf Coast hurricanes, while continuing to support their core grantmaking priorities." “Foundation Support for Most Program Areas Continued to Rise in 2005.” Foundation Center Press Release 2/21/07. Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism Location(s): National, New York, New York City FC010123

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