Foundation Source Releases its Inaugural Generosity Barometer, a Snapshot of Foundation Grant-Making Activities by State

FAIRFIELD, Conn.,– (Newswire) – Today Foundation Source, the nation’s largest provider of management solutions for private foundations, released The Generosity Barometer. The Barometer, a snapshot of foundation grantmaking activities over 24 months, breaks down giving by state.

The 10 states that received the most grants from foundations over 2020 and 2021 are:

California had the highest number of grants at nearly 10,000 and the highest amount granted at nearly $233 million.

“Just like any other industry, ours has its own language and jargon but at its core are acts of generosity,” said Sunil Garga, president and chief executive officer of Foundation Source. “By every measure, the size and scale of that generosity is both impressive and inspiring. Across the country, private foundations consistently give more than what is required, and that speaks volumes about their commitment to their missions.”

Additional findings from the Barometer include:

• On average, private foundations well exceeded their minimum distribution requirement (MDR) of 5% percent in 2021 giving out 7.2% of their assets.
• Mid-size ($10-$50M) and larger foundations ($50-$500M) are more likely to decrease their giving in years when the market is down (2015 and 2018) and increase their giving when there are two or more consecutive years of positive market returns (2014, 2017 and 2021).
• Small foundations ($1-$10M) stood out for their generosity giving away 8.9% of their assets in 2021. Furthermore, when looking at their giving over a decade, smaller foundations have consistently given a higher percentage of their assets compared to mid-size and large foundations. In fact, their rate of generosity has grown over the past 10 years and remains consistently high on an absolute and relative basis.

“There are some interesting patterns in the generosity numbers,” said Gillian Howell, Head of Client Advisory Solutions at Foundation Source. “Consistent with history, smaller foundations gave at the highest percentage of overall assets, and the largest gifts came from mid-sized and larger foundations. It’s worth noting some longer-term trends though, including one that shows smaller foundations’ rate of generosity has increased both on an absolute and relative basis over the last decade. Philanthropy across foundations of all sizes is alive and well.”

The Generosity Barometer stems from Foundation Source’s recent 2022 Report on Private Philanthropy, a quantitative study of nearly 1,000 private and family foundations with assets between $1 million and $500 million.

Methodology to Create The Generosity Barometer

The Generosity Barometer stems from the 2022 Report on Private Philanthropy, a year-over-year analysis (2020 to 2021) of foundations with assets between $1 million and $500 million to provide insights into how the wealthiest families and most philanthropic organizations are effecting change in the world. It explores grantmaking activities, including the size, timing and locations of the grants, financial inflows and outflows, and foundations’ investment activity, including portfolio growth and asset allocation

The findings in this report are based on the analysis of the activities of a sample of 948 private, non-operating foundation clients. Data was drawn from transactions, returns and balances recorded by Foundation Source as it paid grants and expenses on behalf of its clients, prepared their tax returns, and recorded investment information provided by each foundation’s financial institution(s).

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