Downturn Spurs Some Mass. Foundations to Increase Grants

Several Massachusetts foundations are digging into dwindling endowments and living donors are putting more money into the funds so they can increase their giving this year despite the fiscal crunch that is spawning cutbacks across the nonprofit world, The Boston Globe reports.

The Philanthropic Initiative, a group in Boston that advises donors, said about 5 percent of its clients are increasing their grants as a way to reduce the harm caused to needy people and other parts of society due to the recession.

“We have more money than we need, and the foundation needs it more than us,” said Ken Nickerson, a hedge-fund manager whose Eos Foundation plans to increase its spending on antipoverty programs despite losing 30 percent of its endowment since last year. Mr. Nickerson and his wife contributed $10-million to offset the losses.

See The Chronicle’s article on foundation giving and assets at foundations nationwide.

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