Administrative fees are a near universal driver of operating revenues among community foundations, though there are some variances among and within different asset size cohorts. Many community foundations engage in direct fundraising from individual donors to support operations, take distributions from operating endowments, and bring in additional earned revenues by providing paid services such as philanthropic advising for other local foundations or renting out space for local events or other uses.
Community foundations looking to invest more in community leadership efforts and other special initiatives seek the financial flexibility to do so through the generation of surplus revenues, sometimes diversifying their revenue streams in an effort to keep that work sustainable. Emerging and growing community foundations may depend more on a combination of donor fees and direct fundraising to sustain a maturing operation before expanding into new areas of work.
Averages were used to total 100%. (n=232)
| $0-$25M | $25-$50M | $50-$100M | $100-$250M | $250-$500M | $500M+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % Administrative fees | 67% | 70% | 66% | 73% | 71% | 72% |
| % Fees for service | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| % Transaction fees | 0% | 0% | 0% | 2% | 0% | 2% |
| % Fundraising: operations | 10% | 7% | 9% | 6% | 3% | 4% |
| % Fundraising: programmatic | 2% | 1% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| % Distribution from endowment/reserve | 12% | 13% | 11% | 8% | 9% | 5% |
| % Other revenue | 9% | 9% | 11% | 7% | 13% | 11% |