Foundation Support Declined in 2008 for Half of Major Funding Areas

Foundation Centre, August 2010, USA

Foundation Support Declined in 2008 for Half of Major Funding Areas
Despite Downturn, Overall Giving Rose
According to the Foundation Center
New York, NY — August 5, 2010. In the first year of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, foundation funding declined across five of 10 major subject areas, among a matched set of funders. According to Foundation Giving Trends (2010 Edition), released by the Foundation Center, human services experienced the largest decline in 2008 — down 12.7 percent — followed by science and technology. During the same period, overall grant dollars managed to grow 5.4 percent, and support for the environment and international affairs each jumped by more than half from the prior year.

Among the nearly 1,500 foundations whose 2008 grantmaking was analyzed for the report:

Funders awarded a record 214 grants of $10 million or more, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation providing six of the 10 largest, mainly for health and international development.
Health accounted for the largest share of 2008 grant dollars, followed by education, human services, and the arts
International giving, including support for overseas recipients and U.S.-based international programs, reached a record 24.4 percent of grant dollars.
Among specific populations, the economically disadvantaged benefited from the largest share of grant dollars — a record 27.5 percent.
The full force of the economic crisis did not register in 2008 foundation giving," said Steven Lawrence, director of research and the report's principal author. "But losses among half of the major fields showed what would come the following year."

Foundation Giving Trends provides a comprehensive analysis of all of the grants of $10,000 or more awarded by nearly 1,500 of the largest private and community foundations in the United States and tracks changes in funding priorities since 1998. Grant dollars awarded by these funders in the 2008 sample totaled $25.3 billion and represented roughly half of overall giving by U.S. foundations. The report also examines changes in actual grant dollars and number of grants between 2007 and 2008 by a matched subset of 493 foundations.

The report can be purchased ($45) at the Gain Knowledge area of the Foundation Center's web site. "Highlights" of the study can be accessed at no charge.

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