Fewer Foundations Publish Reports on Giving, But More Are Distributing Information Online

The number of foundations issuing publications that detail their giving has decreased for the

first time in 16 years, according to a new study by the Foundation Center.

The study, which is based on surveys of almost 19,000 grant makers, found that 3,239 foundations provided information in print to the public on grant-making and application procedures this year, compared with 3,419 last year.

At the same time, the number of foundations that are providing information via Web sites is growing. This year, 1,072 foundations used the Internet to communicate about their grant making, the Foundation Center said, compared to 840 a year ago. Nearly 15 percent of those foundations said they relied solely on the Internet to provide information on their grant making.

The decline in the total number of foundations issuing print reports comes after several years during which the percentage of grant makers that release such reports had been dropping. The Foundation Center, which has been keeping track of grant makers’ publications since 1985, speculated that the growth in the number of small foundations was the reason for the nearly 2-percent decline; many of the small funds, the organization said, lack the personnel and financial resources to produce reports for the public. Among foundations surveyed in 2001, 17 percent issued publications, compared with nearly 19 percent the previous year.

The Foundation Center said it was not sure whether the decline in the number of foundations reporting in print was the result of foundation closures, a transition to online publications, or other causes. However, it said the decline should not alarm grant seekers or others.

“This one-year decrease in the overall number of foundations issuing publications does not represent a reversal of the trend toward greater public reporting,” said Loren Renz, vice president for research at the Foundation Center. “As the many new foundations established in the boom years of the late 1990s mature, the number of foundations issuing publications will undoubtedly rise.”

Annual Reports

Although a smaller number of grant makers are issuing publications, a larger number of foundations are publishing annual reports — the most detailed form of accounting for programs and finances examined in the Foundation Center study. The number of foundations issuing annual reports increased from 1,423 last year to 1,479 this year, according to the Foundation Center.

Among the other highlights:

• Nearly three-quarters of foundations that have at least $100-million in assets issued publications this year. Those foundations also account for nearly half of all the foundations that maintain Web sites.
• Eighty-seven percent of community foundations, which raise and distribute funds in a specific geographic location, issued publications this year, and more than half of them maintain Web sites.
• Twenty percent of foundations in the West issued publications this year, the biggest share in any region. The Midwest had the next biggest share, with 19.2 percent, followed by the South (16.1 percent) and the Northeast (14.8 percent).

Highlights of the report are available on the Foundation Center’s Web site at http://www.fdncenter.org. The full copy of the report can be ordered online and is available to subscribers of the Foundations Today Series, which includes five annual research reports and costs $95 a year. Orders should be sent to Foundation Center, Department N016, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York 10003-3076; (800) 424-9836; fax (212) 807-3691.

FOUNDATIONS: HOW THEY REPORT TO THE PUBLIC