Giving by US foundations recovered last year to eclipse the pre-recession peak of 2008, according to new research from the Foundation Center, but if the effects of inflation are excluded then donations were down on 2010.

The 2012 edition of Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates states that foundation giving totalled an estimated $46.9bn in 2011, just above the $46.8bn recorded in 2008.

However, if inflation is taken into account, then contributions from the United States’ 76,600 charitable foundations were slightly down on 2010.

And if donations from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were also excluded, then 2011 giving would have fallen by 3 per cent after inflation.

Over a third of those that responded to the annual survey said that they had reduced their giving last year.  Community foundation giving declined slightly to $4.2bn before inflation, and philanthropic donations from independent and family foundations grew by less than 2 per cent before inflation, totalling $33.1bn.

Giving by corporate foundations increased the most, up by 6 per cent to $5.2bn before inflation.

According to predictions by survey respondents, which comprised 1,077 large and mid-sized foundations across the country, foundation philanthropy in 2012 will grow by between 1 and 3 per cent, and show consistent but modest growth in 2013.