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=192)

With assets having grown across the field in FY19, expense-to-asset ratios remained virtually unchanged from the previous survey year.

Larger community foundations achieve an economy of scale that results in typically lower ratios than for smaller community foundations, though operating model differences at individual community foundations will have an impact on this metric. (n=209)

Field median: 2%

Though operating budgets continue to increase across the field – the median increase among Columbus Survey participants was 5.7 percent over FY18 levels – there was a slight decrease in the number of respondents who reported operating expenses in excess of revenues for the second consecutive year – 24 percent, down from 26 percent in FY18.

It is typical for two-thirds of operating expenses to go toward staff capacity, regardless of the size of the community foundation.

Averages were used to total 100%. (n=209)

Administrative fees charged for the management of donor funds continue to be the main driver of community foundation operating revenues. On average, Columbus Survey participants earn 70 percent of their operating revenues from these fees. There will, however, be differences in the extent to which community foundations of different sizes depend on different sources of revenue.

More than two-thirds of those respondents who share what steps they take to address "inactive" DAFs said that they, at minimum, notify the DAF holder to activate the fund by recommending a grant, but fewer community foundations take additional action beyond that initial step. When survey respondents were offered the opportunity to share other actions they take to address an inactive DAF, virtually all stated that they execute some combination of the steps listed per the community foundation's fund agreement.

Nearly all respondents said that they consider a DAF to be inactive if no grant is made from the fund within five years, with three-quarters considering a DAF to be inactive if it hasn't awarded a grant within three years. Although few in number, there were instances of the community foundation considering a DAF to be dormant after 10 or more years of inactivity, citing the potential for the donor to establish the fund with the intention of building its balance to activate the fund toward more impactful grantmaking in the future. (n=171)

More than half of all Columbus Survey respondents reported the existence of a policy in place to address the "dormancy" of DAFs, typically defined by the passage of a predefined period of time after which no grants were awarded from the fund. (n=238)