Assets, gifts, and grants
Nearly 94% of the community foundations included in this snapshot ended FY24 with a year-over-year increase in assets over FY23 totals, owed to a combination of strong fundraising performances field-wide, and a second straight year of broadly positive investment returns. Grantmaking also rose for many, with nearly two-thirds increasing their funding totals over the previous year. (n=425)
Total assets
Median change in assets: 11%
Total reported gifts & grants
Total reported assets, gifts, & grants over time
The table below shows long-term trends in total assets, gifts, and grants among the largest 100 community foundations in the country who together manage nearly 85% of the total assets within the broader sample. Among this group, assets grew by 10% and gifts jumped over 20% (the first increase in three years), while grants fell about 9% to roughly $14.8B due to significant decreases at a small number of community foundations. (n=100)
| Year | Assets ($) | Gifts ($) | Grants ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $66,512,768,854 | $7,223,858,789 | $5,988,171,099 |
| 2016 | $70,241,955,636 | $8,428,827,479 | $6,876,592,827 |
| 2017 | $79,969,043,935 | $9,161,332,877 | $7,888,293,126 |
| 2018 | $80,762,772,659 | $9,794,239,041 | $8,543,076,141 |
| 2019 | $89,529,702,030 | $9,108,784,877 | $8,157,856,506 |
| 2020 | $97,775,353,475 | $13,010,203,732 | $11,197,926,944 |
| 2021 | $124,878,269,160 | $20,188,822,552 | $12,450,559,293 |
| 2022 | $112,381,777,148 | $15,822,982,697 | $14,687,304,097 |
| 2023 | $121,734,229,354 | $13,228,444,824 | $16,386,016,628 |
| 2024 | $133,783,642,900 | $16,046,929,049 | $14,865,058,732 |
Changes in gift and grant activity
The median community foundation in this sample saw a 15% year-over-year increase in gifts received, with nearly 64% of all community foundations seeing gains over the previous year. Roughly one-third of the community foundations in this sample saw fundraising totals increase by more than 50% (a “dramatic increase” in the chart below) in FY24.
Grantmaking increased among all asset size cohorts for the fourth consecutive year, with the median community foundation increasing their giving by 9%. (n=425)
Median change in gifts: 15%
| Type of activity | Dramatic decrease | Moderate decrease | Neutral | Moderate increase | Dramatic increase | Median change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gifts | 9% | 23% | 16% | 18% | 34% | 15% |
| Grants | 2% | 18% | 32% | 32% | 17% | 9% |
Median change in grants: 9%
Median gifts and grants per capita
Fundraising and grantmaking per capita tend to correlate with asset size. Larger community foundations in more densely populated urban centers often serve higher concentrations of high net worth donors, achieving an economy of scale. (n=441)
What's the idea behind the survey?
CF Insights responds to a hunger for shared knowledge among community foundations. Learn more about how this survey helps us do that.
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