Foundation grantmaking has increased despite pressure on incomes, according to this year’s annual Foundation Giving Trends report.
The report, which tracks trends among the top 300 largest foundations, finds that grantmaking by this group has risen to £2.7bn. This is the largest figure ever recorded, although when adjusted for inflation it is still slightly behind the pre-recession peak of £2.5bn (£2.9bn adjusted).
Some 61 per cent of charitable foundations achieved a real increase in their grantmaking.
This positive performance came despite overall income levels falling by 2 per cent and voluntary income falling by 19 per cent. Income from investments rose by 12 per cent.
Family and corporate foundations perform strongly
The Wellcome Trust remains the biggest grantmaker in the list, giving £673.1m in 2014/15. Up to second place from fifth last year is the Leverhulme Trust, which spent £81.4m.
They are followed in the list by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Comic Relief, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Monument Trust.
Within the top 300, giving by family foundations has grown by around 5 per cent per year and accounts for almost two-thirds of total grantmaking, while giving by corporate foundations has risen by 40.6 per cent in real terms over the past five years.
In terms of where money was spent, education and training was the most popular cause, followed by arts/culture and health.
‘A unique social asset’
The report was led by Professor Cathy Pharaoh (pictured) of the Centre for Giving and Philanthropy at Cass Business School, published by the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF), and supported by the Pears Foundation.
A spokesperson for ACF said: “We hope that practitioners and policy-makers use this research to better understand the currents and drivers that propel philanthropy in the UK.
“Once again the findings show that foundations are a unique social asset and that at their best they are the most transparent, intentional and efficient way of transforming private wealth into public benefit.”
