Philanthropy Front and Center - New York

New Research Advisory Gives Long-Term View of Foundation Giving

In September 2009, the Foundation Center conducted a follow-up to its January 2009 giving forecast survey to determine foundation expectations for giving beyond 2009. The survey responses from over 600 grantmakers have been analyzed and indicate that giving from foundations is expected to decline by more than 10 percent in 2009, and continued reductions are expected in 2010. "Foundations will be giving less than they expected at the beginning of the year," said Bradford K. Smith, president of the Foundation Center. "But many are rethinking their grantmaking so that fewer dollars will not necessarily mean less impact."

Foundations' Year-end Outlook for Giving and the Sector is the latest in the Center's research advisory series that explores the impact of the economic downturn on the nonprofit sector. The advisories and the online chart "In Their Own Words: 2009 Foundation Giving Forecast" are available at the Center's Focus on the Economic Crisis web page.

The report can be downloaded at no charge from the Gain Knowledge area of the Center's web site.

Steven Lawrence, Senior Director of Research at the Foundation Center and the author of the advisory, will be discussing this study and its specific findings at the New York library/learning center's 4th annual Open House, to be held on Tuesday, November 17.
Learn more about this program and sign up to attend today>>

Philanthropy New York and the Foundation Center Release New Study on Diversity in the Nonprofit/Philanthropic Sector

The report, Benchmarking Diversity: A First Look at New York City Foundations and Nonprofits, examines the racial, ethnic, and gender demographics of both foundations and nonprofit organizations in New York, as well as, to a limited extent, survey results on sexual orientation and people with disabilities in these organizations.

In addition the diversity of the staffs and boards of the foundations and nonprofits themselves, the study looks at other measures of diversity focus, including whether organizations have policies regarding board and staff diversity, whether foundations have policies regarding grantmaking diversity, and the actual proportion of grants awarded to specific population groups.

Ronna Brown, president of Philanthropy New York, finds that the report "... provides valuable data about the makeup of foundations and the organizations they fund; it's a service to our members and others who care about philanthropy, so they can have informed conversations about how to make and measure progress in the diversity of their organizations."

Benchmarking Diversity: A First Look at New York City Foundations and Nonprofits is available for download at www.philanthropynewyork.org or at www.foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/specialtrends.

Live From Challenges and Opportunities of the Economic Crisis - October 13

Bradford K. Smith, president of the Foundation Center, will provide his perspective on the impact of the economic crisis on the philanthropic sector – both foundations and service providers – and the challenges and opportunities these turbulent times present for the future.

This 60-minute program will be at the Foundation Center-Atlanta on Tuesday, Oct. 13, starting at 2:30 p.m. To read Mr. Smith's biography or sign up to attend, please see our Events Calendar.

Can't get to this event in person? Attend the program virtually via the window below, either during the program or after it's happened. This program also will be taped and posted to our web site later this month.

Pattie Johnson, Director, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Foundation Yearbook 2009 Just Released

The third volume in our Foundations Today Series, Foundation Yearbook: Facts and Figures on Private and Community Foundations (2009), provides data on the number of private and community foundations in the country and on their giving and assets through 2007. Using a survey of 1,225 large and mid-size foundations, as well as year-end fiscal indicators for all grantmaking foundations, the Yearbook also provides estimates of giving by private and community foundations for 2008. Further projections for foundation giving and assets for 2009 are also analyzed in this report.

In 2007, there were more than 75,000 grantmaking foundations, and foundation giving rose 13.8% over the previous year to $44.4 billion. In 2008, giving rose 2.8% to an estimated $45.6 billion, while foundation assets declined an estimated 21.9%. Based on this and other indicators, the Foundation Center projects that giving by foundations will fall by up to 13% in 2009. “The outlook beyond 2009 remains unclear, and much depends on when the economy and stock market begin a consistent recovery. At present, it appears likely that foundation giving will decline further next year” (Foundation Yearbook, highlight, p. 1).

New York and California held the largest share of foundation assets at 16%; while New York private and community foundations provided the largest share of giving overall. In terms of giving by foundation type, in 2007, 73% of all giving was done by independent foundations, which also had 83% of total foundation assets. With 8% of overall assets and only 1% of the total number of foundations in the country, community foundations made 10% of all giving. Representing only 3% of the total number of foundations, company-sponsored foundations also provided 10% of total giving.

See for yourself! Please download the free highlights and order the full report and the complete series from our web site.

Introducing Philanthropy In/Sight

The Foundation Center recently released Philanthropy In/Sight, our new interactive mapping tool for grantmakers, policymakers, researchers, and others interested in seeing the impact of philanthropy in the U.S. and worldwide.

Philanthropy In/Sight provides two unique mapping platforms powered by the Foundation Center's comprehensive databases of the more than 97,000 U.S. grantmakers and records of 1.6 million grants. Users can choose from over 1,100 subject areas and dozens of thematic indicators to assess past funding and current needs in areas such as education, housing, and health care at the global, national, state, or local levels. With these features, Philanthropy In/Sight enables foundations and policymakers to take a more strategic approach to grantmaking.

Philanthropy In/Sight users can:

• Plot the locations of grantmakers and grant recipients by country, state, county, city, metro area, congressional district, or ZIP code
• Find quick information about grantmakers and grant recipients, as well as details about past and recently-awarded grants
• Use layered demographic and thematic data to assess local funding needs and impact
• Explore emerging trends in both domestic and international grantmaking

To learn more, take the guided tour of Philanthropy In/Sight or see these frequently asked questions.

Interested in subscribing to Philanthropy In/Sight? Click here.

Just in! Giving USA 2009

Researched and written at The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and published by the Giving USA Foundation, Giving USA 2009 is an annual statistical analysis of charitable contributions in the United States, the sources of these contributions, and the uses to which the charitable contributions were put. The report analyzes the philanthropic giving of individuals, their bequests, foundations, and corporations. Contributions to the following areas are compared for various periods up to 2008: religion; education; foundations; health; human services; arts, culture, and humanities; public-society benefit; environment/animals; and international affairs. Of particular note are the listings of gifts of $10 million or more by individuals.

Analyses of the economic crisis and its effect on philanthropy and tips for fundraising in recessionary times are new in Giving USA 2009.

Looking for facts on U.S. philanthropy? Come to the Foundation Center's New York library and use Giving USA 2009 today.