"The price of greatness is responsibility."
- Winston Churchill.
With assets of more than half a trillion dollars and the capacity to give nearly $50 billion in a single year, American charitable foundations really can change the world.
According to the U.S. Foundation Center, there are nearly 22,000 charitable foundations in the United States. Of those, 814 foundations have more than $100 million in assets. For a list of the biggest 50 U.S. foundations, click here.
From 1975 to 2008, the total assets of U.S. foundations increased from $30 billion in 1975 to $682 billion in 2007. In 2008, after the recession hit, the assets of charitable foundations declined to $564 billion. Still, that's more than the combined assets of Exxon-Mobil ($233 billion) and Wal-Mart ($170 billion).
In terms of giving, charitable foundations as a whole have increased from approximately $2 billion in 1975 to a total of nearly $47 billion in 2008. Since 1995, the total amount granted by charitable foundations has more than tripled, as shown below.
For the data on which the above figure was based, and additional data, please click here.
For the data on which the above figure was based, and additional data, please click here.
Please read: Copyright Notice & Disclaimer. All dollar figures are U.S. dollars.
