Amid Decline in Georgia Foundation Giving, the State's Grantmakers and Charities Agree on Future Funding Needs

General Operating Support Grants Rank as Highest Priority

Atlanta, GA — February 21, 2013. Georgia saw a decline in the number of its grantmaking foundations and their giving in 2010, according to the Foundation Center's Key Facts on Georgia Foundations. The dollar value of grants awarded by the state's foundations fell from $874 million to $778 million in 2010, and the number of active foundations shrank for the second straight year, from a high of 1,501 in 2008 to 1,433 in 2010. At the same time, assets of Georgia foundations rose 8.1 percent between 2009 and 2010 to $11.8 billion, suggesting that foundation giving may have begun to recover in 2011.

Results of surveys conducted in partnership with the Georgia Grantmakers Alliance and Georgia Center for Nonprofits also indicate that the state's foundations and the Georgia-based nonprofits they support are closely aligned regarding funding priorities for the future; both groups indicate that operating support is very important to the state's nonprofits.

Survey findings provided additional insight into the grantmaking practices of Georgia foundations. When asked to identify the distinguishing characteristics of grant applicants that might affect their decision whether to fund a nonprofit, the foundations ranked strong leadership and financial stability at the top of the list of positive characteristics they value. Lack of financial sustainability and frequent turnover in leadership were among the top negative characteristics.

Other findings of Key Facts on Georgia Foundations include:

• Georgia's 13 community foundations accounted for close to one-fifth of total giving by the state's grantmakers in 2010.
• The state's two largest private grantmakers, the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, each awarded close to $100 million in grants during 2010.
• Georgia's foundations are increasingly focused on health, with the share of grant dollars awarded in the field reaching 37 percent in 2010.
• The share of overall giving targeting the environment declined from nearly 10 percent in 2009 to just under 6 percent in 2010, the largest decline among all subject categories.

Key Facts on Georgia Foundations can be downloaded from the Gain Knowledge area of the Foundation Center's web site.

Cheryl Loe
Communications Project Manager
The Foundation Center
(888) 356-0354 ext. 701
communications@foundationcenter.org

Val Porter
Director, Atlanta Office
The Foundation Center
(404) 880-0094 
vpp@foundationcenter.org

About the Foundation Center
Established in 1956, the Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 470 funding information centers located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and around the world. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call (212) 620-4230.

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