Benchmarking Foundation Operations

Are you a donor, trustee, or staff member of a small foundation and interested in the management practices at similar organizations? Have a look at the latest edition of the Foundation Operations & Management Survey, published annually by the Association of Small Foundations (ASF). Here are a few statistics from the 2007-2008 edition:

-Median assets of survey respondents: $8,880,566

-Median grant amount: $12,502

-Net investment return for 2006: 10.54%

-Percentage of respondents who indicated that their foundations were established to exist in perpetuity: 76%

Learn more about the ASF member survey at smallfoundations.org

Other foundation survey data is available from the Council on Foundations:

Foundation Management Series. 12th ed. Washington, DC: Council on Foundations, 2006. 160 p.
This publication presents the results of the 2004 Foundation Management Survey, in which 648 foundations participated. The data covers governance and statistics regarding administrative expenses, and relates to independent, community, family, and public grantmaking foundations.

2007 Grantmakers Information Technology Survey Report. Washington, DC: Council on Foundations, 2007. 39 p.
Data is based on a survey conducted in June 2007 by the Technology Affinity Group and the Council on Foundations. More than 300 foundations representatives responded to questions related to planning, staff, policies, disaster recovery, compliance software, online grant applications, security, knowledge management, and other topics.

Finally, don't forget to explore the Research Studies area of the Foundation Center web site to review our reports and other grantmaker statistics.