Foundation Giving Trends 2017 WELCOME to FOUNDATION GIVING TRENDS 2017
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GIVING TRENDS 2017 TOP 300 FOUNDATION GRANT-MAKERS KEY FACTS AND FIGURES ON GIVING, INCOME AND ASSETS IN THE TOP UK INDEPENDENT CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONS CATHY PHAROAH CATHERINE WALKER KEIRAN GODDARD KEY FINDINGS At £4.1 billion, At least 10% of the total foundation Top 300 foundations spending by the make programme Top 300 foundations related and social has risen by 11% investments. this year. Grant-making by the Investment income Top 300 foundations grew by 5.5%, more reached a record high than double the growth for the second year, rate of annual voluntary KEYtotalling £2.9 billion income fromFINDINGS new gifts. – a robust growth The combined net of 12%. assets of the Top 300 foundations reached another record high, almost £60 billion. KEYSPREAD OF ASSETS AGAINST GRANT-MAKING IN TOP 300FINDINGS FOUNDATIONS £M Assets 3,000 COMIC BBC CHILDREN RELIEF 2,500 IN NEED 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 1 Personal and family Foundations are philanthropy through working in many new foundations grew by partnerships with nearly 20%. public, business and charitable sectors to drive innovative The Top 50 corporate At £1.87 billion, social change. foundations gave personal and family grants totalling philanthropy accounts £269 million, an annual for 64% of the total KEY FINDINGSgrowth of 9% in real value of Top 300 terms. Over the last grant-making. five years, corporate foundation grant funding has increased by 35%. The graph below shows that the majority of assets (shown by the blue curve) *This graph excludes Wellcome Trust due are held by a relatively small number of foundations in the Top 300. While these to the scale of its assets (£19.6 billion). are among the largest grant-makers, a third of all grants (shown by the KEY FINDINGSorange lines) are made by foundations with few or no net assets. £M Grants 160 THE STOLLER AHMADIYYA SIGRID CHARITABLE MUSLIM JAMAAT RAUSING 140 TRUST INTERNATIONAL TRUST 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 300 02 – 03 | Foundation Giving Trends 2017 WELCOME TO FOUNDATION GIVING TRENDS 2017 Foundation Giving Trends is an annual research This year’s report updates core financial trends for project mapping the enormous contribution made by 2015/16. It shows a solid picture of growth in foundations’ philanthropically-funded foundations to public benefit. grant-making, income and assets. Most of the asset It aims to provide a tool for increased foundation gain occurred before the bounce in the value of some transparency and an essential up-to-date evidence investments that followed the announcement of Brexit platform for practitioners, policy-makers and researchers. and the fall in the value of sterling, though a small number The report’s key benchmarks include an annual update of large foundations reported after the UK referendum on the finances of the Top 300 foundations – which in June 2016. together represent around 90% of all foundation giving,1 While the Top 300 philanthropically-funded foundations – the Top 150 family (or family business) foundations, are a key part of the foundation grant-making universe, and the Top 50 corporate foundations, positioned by this report also describes the wider map of charitable value of giving. These panels are identified each year foundations. It updates a new table, introduced last and their financial results compared with their own year, of the top 20 community or other grant-making results for each of the previous four years. Since many foundations by scale of endowment, including large foundations are simultaneously members of each of publicly-endowed foundations, which are increasing these three lists, the report combines the information in number. in a single tablethat shows the overlaps and the position Ultimately what matters most, of course, is the outcome of foundationsin each. of foundation funding, and the report is completed with Change in membership of the Top 300 is about 11% per a deep dive into examples of foundations of different year, and is concentrated at the bottom end of the table sizes driving social good through topical, innovative so has little impact on the overall financial results. and enterprising grants, and powerful partnerships. CONTENTS About foundations 03 Family foundations 16 Foundation spending in context 04 Corporate foundations 18 Overview of trends 06 Changes in the landscape 20 Spending 08 Other foundations 22 Income 10 Top 300 foundations ranked by giving 23 Assets 12 Glossary 32 Innovative partnerships for change 14 References 33 ABOUT FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS ARE HIGHLY DIVERSE IN THE WAY THEY SUPPORT SOCIAL GOOD of foundation activity, especially WHAT IS A CHARITABLE social investment, running their own THE TOP 300 FOUNDATION? programmes, research, and policy Our Top 300 foundations are defined In the UK the terms ‘foundation’ or and influencing work. as charitable grant-makers that: ‘trust’ are used interchangeably to Foundations are not restricted • derive income almost entirely from describe charities with private, to funding charities – many fund private, philanthropic sources independent and sustainable income universities, research, education, (including endowments) that fulfil their charitable goals mainly and individuals. They can also • devote 50% or more of their by funding and supporting other support public and private sector charitable spending to making grants organisations and individuals. bodies to deliver the foundation’s • are principally grant-making rather There is a broad spectrum of charitable goals. than operating or providing direct foundations. For example, the At their best, independent charitable services Association of Charitable Foundations foundations provide an efficient, (ACF) has over 300 members including transparent and irrevocable way to • are not set up to support a single many large independent foundations, translate private wealth into public institution/beneficiary or cause local and community trusts, family benefit. Their annual spending power • are the largest by value of grant- trusts, corporate foundations, and is relatively small, equal to 0.4 – 0.5% making. fundraising appeals. The majority of of UK government expenditure, but The Top 300 philanthropically-funded ACF’s membership comprises grant- foundations often punch far above foundations contribute around two- making trusts, but increasing numbers their weight. Their independence fifths of the total grant spending of all are becoming involved in other types means they can back causes that charitable foundations, estimated at struggle to gain attention, offer long- £6.5 billion.2 Other foundations include term support, work independently of those that are publicly or member- FOUNDATION short-term political cycles, respond funded, operating/service-providing GRANT-MAKING UNIVERSE creatively to immediate need, and find or established to support a single long-term solutions. institution/beneficiary/cause. For example, the Big Lottery Fund FAMILY is not included in the Top 300 as its funding award results from government mandate although derived 26% from purchase of lottery tickets by the public. It is listed individually because CORPORATE of the scale of its contribution. 12% OTHER 18% 4% 17% 12% 11% TOP 300 DEDICATED TO PUBLICLY- OTHER BIG LOTTERY PHILANTHROPICALLY- SINGLE BENEFICIARY FUNDED FUNDING FUND FUNDED OR CAUSE SOURCES 04 – 05 | Foundation Giving Trends 2017 FOUNDATION SPENDING IN CONTEXT FOUNDATIONS ARE ABLE TO USE THEIR UNIQUE FUNDING POSITION TO MEET NEED At £6.5 billion, foundation grant-making is equal to 43% of total government SKEWS IN THE DATA spending in the voluntary sector Estimates of total foundation assets 3 including contracts, which total and spending are heavily skewed by £15 billion. a few large foundations, in particular Despite this enormous contribution, Wellcome Trust, which has foundation spending is a drop in substantial and growing assets. the ocean when compared to total With spending more than ten government spending of £762 billion.4 times that of its nearest neighbour, its figures increase COMPILING THE DATA the data markedly and shifts in its finances can have a bn The measurement of philanthropic disproportionate effect on £762 giving in the UK involves stitching the results. All trends in together data gathered from the report are tested for different sources, through different any skewing effect this methodologies and collected may have, and these at different times. This creates are noted. Some a fabric with some holes and foundations have discontinuities. Key figures in large assets because this report are drawn from: they encompass other charitable • financial figures in annual reports bn activities besides £6.5 and accounts and foundations’ grant-making, while FOUNDATION websites others have large GRANT-MAKING • search of literature, including press assets because they reports consolidate business • tax statistics, estates data, general activities due to public and ‘high net worth’ surveys, group accounting and other research. requirements. Foundation accounts are published Examples include at different times of the year. This, Bridge House Estates coupled with the time taken to carry and Garfield Weston out the research, means that the data Foundation. used to track annual trends may relate to either financial or calendar years. This inevitably reduces the sensitivity of the research to the impact of shorter-term variations in inflation rates, and the coherence of the ‘annual’ financial snapshot. However, the consistency of the research approach and methodology year-on- year allows for confidence in