April 24, 2008
Companies Report 7% Increase in 2007 Grants
By Noelle Barton
Corporations reported a 7 percent increase in their grant making in 2007, a new study by the Foundation Center, in New York, concludes.
The study reports that the nearly 2,600 corporate foundations gave an estimated $4.4-billion to charity in 2007. More than half of these foundations expect giving to increase in 2008.
“Corporate foundations have long represented an important source of support for the nonprofit sector, and that remained true in 2007,” Steven Lawrence, senior director of research at the Foundation Center, said in a statement. “While the survey findings suggest that giving by corporate foundations may increase in 2008, the current economic downturn makes the future less predictable.”
Among the report’s other findings:
- In 2006, the most recent year for which data were available, grants to support education comprised about one-quarter of all dollars given by corporate foundations, across all regions of the country. Human-services charities and public-affairs groups each received about one-fifth of all grant dollars.
- Though it has nearly doubled since 1990, corporate giving continues to grow at a slower rate than overall foundation giving, and in 2007 comprised just 10 percent of all foundation giving, down from 17 percent in 1990.
- Nearly 30 percent of corporate foundations expect to reduce their giving in 2008.
The top five corporate foundations, by total giving in 2006 were, in descending order: Aventis Pharmaceuticals Health Care Foundation, in Bridgewater, N.J.; Bank of America Charitable Foundation, in Charlotte, N.C.; Wal-Mart Foundation, in Bentonville, Ark.; GE Foundation, in Fairfield, Conn.; and Citi Foundation, in New York.
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— Joyce Mondejar-Dy, Ph.D., RGC Apr 24, 10:29 PM #