Small Foundations Increased Assets and Grants Last Year - Grant Makers - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Small Foundations Increased Assets and Grants Last Year - Grant Makers - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Assets of foundations worth less than $50-million grew by 10 percent in 2012 over 2011, according to a study released today, and their giving increased by slightly more than 9 percent.

Grant makers of that size account for 98 percent of the country’s approximately 86,000 foundations but only about 30 percent of foundation wealth, according to the report.

Foundation Center - Press Release - New Reports Shed Light on Payout Practices and Expense Patterns of U.S. Foundations

Foundation Center - Press Release - New Reports Shed Light on Payout Practices and Expense Patterns of U.S. Foundations: New York, NY — October 23, 2012. The Foundation Center, the nation's leading authority on philanthropy, has released new reports that examine the payout practices and spending patterns of more than 1,000 larger U.S. independent foundations. These reports provide an authoritative, unbiased source of knowledge to help the public and policymakers better understand foundation practice and to help foundations benchmark their own activities.

Understanding and Benchmarking Foundation Payout explains the concept of payout, which refers to the total amount that a foundation reports as its charitable distribution. (The law requires the vast majority of private U.S. grantmaking foundations to distribute at least 5 percent of their net investment assets for charitable purposes each year.)