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
- Pennsylvania foundations reported total assets of $42.5 billion, ranking 6th among states.
- Pennsylvania foundations 5 year total asset growth of 4.4%, ranked 31st.
- The average 5 year annualized return of Pennsylvania foundations for the period ended December 31, 2017 was 8.8%, 5th place.
Asset Development
- Since 2013 Pennsylvania foundations assets have increased by $8.3 billion from $34.2 billion to $42.5 billion.
- Pennsylvania’s growth rate (blue hashed line) of 4.4% was slower than the overall foundation universe growth rate (yellow hashed line) of 5.4%.
Investment Performance
- Pennsylvania foundations estimated median performance for the 1-yr, 3-yr, and 5-yr periods ended Dec 31, 2017 was 15.7%, 6.8%, and 8.8% respectively.
- For the five year period, FoundationMark estimates Pennsylvania foundations outperformed the overall U.S. foundation universe by 72 basis points per year.
Disclosed Investment Expenses
- Pennsylvania foundations reported $227.9 million in disclosed investment expenses for the most recent year.
- Median investment expenses for Pennsylvania foundations of 59 basis points were 6 basis points lower than the national median of 65 basis points.
As shown in the chart below, Pennsylvania had a higher percentage of foundations in the lower fee columns (on the left) and a lower percentage in the higher (on the right).
Foundations by Portfolio Strategy
Foundations by Asset Level
There are close to 2,600 Pennsylvania foundations with assets over $1 million.
- Pennsylvania has 5 of the top 100 foundation by asset size in the US.
- Over 200 Pennsylvania foundations have assets of over $25 million.
Top 10 Foundations by Assets
- Half of the top 10 foundations are in Pittsburgh.
- 5 Pennsylvania foundations have over $1 billion.
Foundations by County and City
Incoming Contributions
- Pennsylvania foundations received $1.4 billion in incoming contributions in the most recent year, and $7.9 billion cumulatively over the past 5 years, eighth most of all states.
Grants, Gifts and Operating Expenses
- Pennsylvania foundations paid $2.8 billion in grants, gifts, and operating expenses in the most recent year, and $12.5 billion cumulatively over the past 5 years, sixth largest in dollar terms.
- Pennsylvania’s 5-year giving growth of 5.2% per year trailed the national average of 6.2% and ranked in the bottom half among all states over the period.
If you would like to learn more about the over 2,600 foundations in Pennsylvania that we follow, or the other 40,000 foundations outside of Pennsylvania that we track, including performance and expense data, please visit our affiliated companies: