The median survey respondent saw an 8.1% increase in gifts received, up from 7.1% in FY17. Nearly a third of all respondents saw fundraising totals increase by more than 50% over FY17 levels. Grantmaking continues its steady growth across the field, with degrees of change remaining consistent with FY17 survey results.
Gifts per capita is calculated by dividing the foundation’s total gifts (including supporting organizations) by the population of the foundation’s service area. The service area is defined by each community foundation.
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, requiring a higher number of specialized staff who will be less likely to manage donor funds. (n=242)
Economies of scale at larger community foundations generally drive expense-to-asset ratios down, though it should be noted that individual operating models have a major influence on this metric. There are community foundations across the field that are interested in increasing their investment in community leadership, which would be one factor in increasing this ratio for many. (n=256)
Fewer respondents reported expenses that were in excess of revenues earned (14%) than FY 2016 (22%), while just under half of all respondents reported surpluses.
Differences in the proportion of personnel to non-personnel expenses are relatively minor when comparing community foundations of different sizes. Insofar as differences do exist can be observed in smaller community foundations, which may have very few staff.
Averages were used to total 100%. (n=256)