Overall foundation giving from 2021 to 2022 increased by 3%
Among the 557 survey respondents who provided funding data for fiscal year end (FYE) 2021 and 2022, cumulative giving increased from $25.3 to $26.1 billion. This 3% increase in grant dollars is much lower than the 12% annual increase in 2021 and 24% increase in 2020 (all figures are unadjusted for inflation).

Rather, the 2023 change in giving more closely matches findings from survey data in pre-pandemic years. From 2015 to 2019, the annual change in grant dollars ranged from a high of 7% in 2017 to less than 0.1% in 2019.

Corporate foundations saw greater increases than independent and community foundations
Examining giving by foundation type, corporate foundations demonstrated the largest proportionate increase (nearly 12%) in grant dollars. In comparison, giving by community foundations rose 4%. Independent foundations, which account for most foundation grant dollars, also increased giving by less than 2%.

Most foundations’ giving did not keep pace with inflation
The annual average inflation rate in 2022 was 8%, according to the Consumer Price Index. That means that foundations had to increase their grant dollars in 2022 by 8% simply to keep up with inflation. About 41% of foundations increased giving by at least 8%. The median foundation awarded 4% more grant dollars.

Median payout by independent foundations in 2022 remained at 5.0%
Private foundations must generally meet an annual payout requirement of 5% of the average market value of their net investment assets. In 2022, the average payout among 349 independent foundations was 6.8%, similar to last year’s survey’s average. The median and mode were 5.0%.

More foundations expect their giving in 2023 to decrease than increase
Half of the foundations surveyed expect their giving in 2023 to remain about the same. But, for the first time in recent survey history, the proportion of foundations anticipating declines in giving (27%) exceeded those expecting increases (23%).

Read the full article about foundation giving in 2022 by Sarina Dayal and Grace Sato at Candid.