DAFs are a significant source of fund activity within the field and within this data sample. In 2023, they made up 30% of all reported assets, received 47% of all fundraising dollars, and gave 57% of all grant dollars (n=485). Grantmaking totals continued to climb with a median 5% year-over-year increase, despite broad declines in fundraising (with a median year-over-year decrease of 15%).
Large community foundations tend to house more DAFs, which can be high touch in nature and require additional staff to grow and manage, than their smaller peers.
Averages were used to total 100%. (n=185)
Smaller, emerging, and growing community foundations typically carry more of their assets in endowed funds than larger peers as they look to grow and sustain themselves by maintaining a reliable source of administrative fee income. Larger community foundations will often move toward diversifying their product portfolios to engage current donors in different ways, while providing a suite of options for prospective donors who may seek the flexibility to spend their funds down at any time.
Median percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. (n=204)
A significant portion of the assets in the field are in donor-advised funds (DAFs), which also account for nearly half of all fundraising and almost 60 percent of grant dollars that were deployed in 2023. Although fundraising to DAFs held at community foundations saw significant year over year declines from 2022, they continued to serve as highly active grantmaking vehicles, maintaining high distribution rates and flow rates to ensure that dollars get distributed into communities.
Most asset size cohorts are in line with each other in terms of gifts and grants per capita except for the largest community foundations which, while often based in more densely populated urban centers, achieve an economy of scale. (n=373)
Median change in grants: 10%
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Just over half of the community foundations in the sample experienced year over year declines in fundraising, with the median community foundation seeing a 3% decrease.
The table below reflects long-term growth in assets, gifts, and grants among 100 of the largest community foundations in the country, who together hold nearly 80% of the sample’s total assets. The collective asset total for this group increased by 8% over 2022, despite a second consecutive two-digit decrease in fundraising. Grantmaking totals continued to climb, with this group deploying over $16B in grants, an 11% increase over the prior year. (n=100)
Nearly 90 percent of the community foundations included in this year’s sample ended 2023 with a year over year increase in assets over 2022 totals, largely due to positive investment returns across the field in an economic climate seeing some recovery following the worst of the pandemic.