Newsletters
FoundationMark Adds Peer Group Analysis
FoundationMark, has recently rolled out a new feature - peer group analysis. Foundations have been badly underserved in terms of available financial benchmarking resources. The few publications available tend to either 1) focus on only the largest foundations, 2) be buried in academic papers, or 3) report episodic survey results, all of which make it difficult to make … [Read more...] about FoundationMark Adds Peer Group Analysis
Record Giving, Record Asset Levels
Higher Giving, Higher Assets The graph and table below show current estimated foundation assets grew to $1.2 trillion at the end of 2020. The FoundationMark assumptions underlying the asset level are shown at right, including a giving level of $88 billion, up about 7% from 2019. We recognize that giving may have been higher as foundations may have responded to the … [Read more...] about Record Giving, Record Asset Levels
How Much do Foundations Give Per Year?
Measuring Giving in Dollars and as a Percent of Assets Examining foundation giving is best approached from two perspectives, first, in terms of actual dollars distributed by foundations each year, and secondly as a percentage of assets. Below we provide answers to both. In doing so, we hope to demonstrate the relationship between asset levels and giving, as well as provide … [Read more...] about How Much do Foundations Give Per Year?
Asset Allocation Doesn’t Change Much Even in Crises
The chart above shows that foundation asset allocation hasn't varied much year to year. Two long term trends have been a reduction in cash and fixed income holdings and an increase in "Investments - Other". The category "Investments - Other" is a specific line on the foundation's annual filing. The underlying assets may include alternative assets such as private equity and … [Read more...] about Asset Allocation Doesn’t Change Much Even in Crises
Everything was Great, Until it Wasn’t
The FoundationMark GIV Index estimates that foundations clocked average performance of 18.8% in 2019, the highest in the past 10 years. Foundation assets topped $1.1 trillion according to our estimates and giving grew over 6%, marking a decade long boom in charitable support. The coronavirus outbreak changed everything. As market turmoil continues, commentary is outdated as … [Read more...] about Everything was Great, Until it Wasn’t