Good news for nonprofits! Foundation funding in the U.S. had an upsurge in 2016 and 2017 and is expected to continue to grow.
According to a new study from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, from 2015 to 2016, foundation funding increased by 3.5%, a whopping $59.28 billion! In 2017, foundation funding almost doubled, by an increase of 5.9%. In 2018, foundation funding is expected to increase by another 6%.
Why is foundation funding increasing? Two reasons:
1. An average to above-average growth in the Standard and Poor 500 in recent years, and
2. Average to above-average growth in the preceding years’ Gross Domestic Product- the total value of everything produced by all the people and companies in the country.
But depending on your nonprofit, you could benefit even more. Health related organizations are predicted to have the highest increases, with an 8.5% increase in 2017 and 7.9% in 2018. This includes nonprofit community health centers, hospitals and nursing homes, organizations focused on the treatment and/or cure of specific diseases, emergency medical services, wellness and health promotion, mental health care and health research. The education sector also stands to gain a lot from these positive trends, with giving increases of 6.3% in 2017 and 6% in 2018. Specifically, U.S. education charities, including institutions of higher education, private K-12 schools, vocational schools, libraries and educational research and policy.
Want to do a deep dive into these trends? Learn more here.
If your organization wants to support your grants programming in light of these foundation funding increases, contact Marty Zimmerman, President here.