Study: Foundation Giving To Underserved Communities Rises
The NonProfit Times
May 22, 2013
Foundations made about $10 billion worth of grants to benefit vulnerable populations in 2011. That's 42 percent of grantmaking, up from 40 percent in 2008 through 2010. But take away the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and that percentage drops to 31 percent.
Those are some of the results from a series of reports by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), collectively titled "The Philanthropic Landscape." The series is comprised of four brief reports: The State of Giving to Underserved Communities 2011, The State of Social Justice Philanthropy 2011, The State of General Operating Support 2011 and The State of Multi-Year Funding 2011. The Washington, D.C.-based NCRP examined the 2011 grant output of 1,121 foundations.
About one foundation in five reported giving at least 50 percent of total grant dollars to benefit underserved communities in 2011. At nearly $4 billion, the Seattle-based Gates Foundation gave by far the most to underserved communities, followed by the Ford Foundation at more than $314 million.
Leaving out the Gates Foundation, foundations in the Northeast gave the highest percentage of dollars to underserved communities at 35 percent, followed closely by the Midwest at 34 percent. Without the Gates Foundation, the West region gave 30 percent, but that figure jumps to 60 percent with the inclusion of the Gates Foundation.
