Study on Reporting Patterns of Foundations

Posted by on November 15, 2002

[Philanthropy News Digest]

Foundation Center Releases Study on Reporting Patterns of Foundations

A new report from the Foundation Center (http://www.fdncenter.org/) shows that the Internet is an increasingly important tool for foundations to provide information on their programs, activities, guidelines, and grantees. The 2002 edition of Foundation Reporting: Update on Public Reporting Trends of Private and Community Foundations tracks changes in the number of U.S. grantmaking foundations that issue annual reports and other print publications or maintain Web sites. The report examines the public reporting patterns of U.S. foundations for the current year as well as over the past decade.

According to the study, the number of surveyed foundations that issue publications increased by only nineteen, to 3,258, in 2002. Moreover, the share of larger U.S. foundations that issued publications declined to roughly one-sixth (16.3 percent) in the current year, from about one-quarter (25.1 percent) a decade ago. Counterbalancing this decline is the rapid growth in the number of foundations that maintain a presence on the Internet. In 2002, 1,269 larger U.S. foundations maintained Web sites, up by nearly 200 from the previous year.

“Web sites are the fastest growing vehicle for grantmakers to communicate with grantseekers and the public,” said Loren Renz, vice president for research at the Center. “Given the flexibility, lower production costs, and broader reach of Web-based communications, more foundations are likely to choose Web sites as an important means for conveying information about their work.”

Foundations with at least $100 million in assets — 2.8 percent of the total surveyed — represented 23.8 percent of those foundations that maintain Web sites. More than seven in ten (71.7 percent) of foundations in this category issued publications in 2002, accounting for 12.3 percent of the 3,258 foundations that issued publications and 19.7 percent of the 1,495 that issued annual reports.

Foundation Reporting is part of the Foundations Today Series of reports on foundation growth and trends in foundation giving. To download highlights of the report (2 pages, PDF), visit: http://fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/found_report_hi_02.pdf.

“Foundation Center Releases New Study on the Reporting Patterns of Foundations in 2002.” Foundation Center Press Release 11/11/02.

http://fdncenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=16700022