All data used in rankings and calculations is provided by FoundationMark and FoundationIQ and reflects foundations with over $1 million in assets.
Overall Ranking by State
- Florida foundations reported total assets of $30.1 billion, ranking 8th among states.
- Florida foundations 5 year total asset growth of 5.1%, ranked 23rd.
- The average 5 year annualized return of Florida foundations for the period ended December 31, 2017 was 7.8%, 37th place.
Asset Development
- Since 2013 Florida foundations assets have increased by $6.6 billion from $23.4 billion to $30.1 billion.
- Florida’s growth rate (blue hashed line) of 5.1% was slower than the overall foundation universe growth rate (yellow hashed line) of 5.4%.
Investment Performance
- Florida foundations estimated median performance for the1-yr, 3-yr, and 5-yr periods ended Dec 31, 2017 was 14.4%, 6.4%, and 7.8% respectively.
- For the five year period, FoundationMark estimates Florida foundations under-performed the overall U.S. foundation universe by 36 basis points per year.
Disclosed Investment Expenses
- Florida foundations reported $160.1 million in disclosed investment expenses for the most recent year.
- Median investment expenses for Florida foundations of 65 basis points was in line with the national median.
The chart below shows the distribution of investment expenses for Florida foundations, which reveals an elevated number incurring expenses over 150 basis points in the rightmost columns.
Basis Points (bps): Investment fees are usually quoted as a percentage of assets. For example an investment manager may charge a 0.75% fee to manage the money that you have with the firm. The term ‘basis point’ is an easier way to say small numbers by moving the decimal point two places to the right. so 0.75% = 75 basis points, for the simple reason it is easier to say out loud “seventy five basis points” than “zero point seven five percent”.
Foundations by Portfolio Strategy
FoundationMark Portfolio Strategies
- 41% of Florida foundations were categorized as Capital Appreciation by FoundationMark, 4% higher than the national average.
- 19% of Florida foundations had a Balanced strategy, a little lower than the national average.
- 26% of Florida foundations were categorized as ‘Investments – Other’, in line with the national average.
- 15% of Florida foundations had a Capital Preservation strategy, in line with the national average.
Foundations by Asset Level
Close to 2,500 Florida foundations have assets of $1 million or more.
- Florida has 1 of the top 100 foundation by asset size in the US.
- Over 190 of Florida foundations have assets of over $25 million
Top 10 Foundations by Assets
- The top 10 Florida foundations are more widely dispersed geographically than many states with just 3 in any one city.
Foundations by County and City
Incoming Contributions
- Florida foundations received $2.0 billion in incoming contributions in the most recent year, and $7.6 billion cumulatively over the past 5 years, ninth most of all states.
Grants, Gifts and Operating Expenses
- Florida foundations paid $2.1 billion in grants, gifts, and operating expenses in the most recent year, and $9.1 billion cumulatively over the past 5 years, tenth largest in dollar terms,.
- Florida giving growth of 6.1% per year was essentially in line with the national average.
If you would like to learn more about the over 2,500 foundations in Florida, or the other 40,000 foundations outside of Florida that we follow, including performance and expense data, please visit our affiliated companies: