Total transactions represent the number of gifts and grants processed annually (including supporting organizations). The average transaction size represents the total dollar value of gifts plus the total dollar value of grants divided by the total number of transactions.

The distribution rate is calculated by dividing the foundation’s total grants by total assets (including supporting organizations) at the end of the foundation’s fiscal year. The percentage of total assets in donor-advised funds (Percent Total Assets DAF) is the total amount of IRS-classified donor-advised funds divided by total foundation assets.

The following is a list of Annual Survey participants sorted by asset size, supplemented by publicly available information where available.

Larger community foundations tend to maintain relatively complex operating models that require a higher number of specialized staff. For smaller community foundations, staff will often serve multiple roles, and are more likely to each service a higher number of donors on average. (n=179)

The median expense to asset ratio increased slightly across all size cohorts from 2021, unsurprising given the number of foundations whose assets decreased over that time while operating expenses increased.  75 percent of all survey respondents that reported for both years reported increasing their expenses in 2022. (n=184)

For the second straight year, roughly two-thirds of all reporting community foundations ended their fiscal year with an overall operating surplus, which provides some level of flexibility to invest in special initiatives and community leadership efforts.

The median community foundation reporting for both 2021 and 2022 increased their operating budget by nine percent (n=130), up from seven percent the year before. Across all asset size cohorts, the majority of operating budget dollars go toward staff expenses (n=225).

Administrative fees continue to serve as the main source of operating revenues for community foundations across the field. Larger community foundations will be more likely to maintain somewhat diversified earned revenue streams that include fee for service offerings, while smaller community foundations tend to do more direct fundraising to support operations.

Nearly all respondents said that they will first attempt an appeal to a DAF holder to activate the fund after a predefined period of time after which the fund is considered dormant. Follow-up step are often included in the donor's original fund agreement; many said that those steps included one or both of distributing DAF dollars in alignment with the donor's original intent and transferring the funds into the community foundation's unrestricted funds. (n=144)

All but two community foundations take some action to activate a dormant DAF after five years pass without the recommendation of a grant, and 80 percent of respondents said they take action after three years. In cases where the time horizon extends to 10 or more years, it is likely because the donor stated an intention to have their fund grow before making larger grants in the future. (n=140)