California Foundations on the Mend
The report, “California Foundations 2004: Trends and Patterns,” found that California has added more than 2,000 new foundations since 1999; foundation assets have grown to $77.4 billion, an increase of 13 percent; and California foundations made grants totaling $1.4 billion in 2004, an increase of 40 percent since 1999.
When adjusted for inflation, assets declined by 2 percent and giving increased by 21 percent.
“While our earlier analysis found the foundation sector suffered declines in the early years of the decade, foundation fortunes have rebounded and giving is beginning to pick up its pace,” said SPPD professor James M. Ferris, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy. “The foundation sector is strong and vibrant, and the prospects for the future are bright.”
In addition to measuring the growth of foundations in California, the new report also offers analysis of the structure of the California foundation sector and changing patterns in its capacity and grant making. Key findings include:
• Foundation assets in California remain highly concentrated, with 35 foundations holding assets of $250 million or more, accounting for 63 percent of foundation assets and 47.5 percent of giving.
• Foundation capacity continues to be concentrated in the Bay Area and the Los Angeles area, with 68 percent of the foundations and 89 percent of foundation assets located in these regions.
• The reach of foundation giving remains highly concentrated. Grant recipients in the Bay Area and Los Angeles regions received almost 77 percent of the 1.4 billion in 2004 grant dollars.
The report also reveals potentially troubling findings in grant-making patterns. The state’s share of grants from California foundations is declining. In 2004, 64 percent of grants were from California foundations, a decline of 6 percent since 1999. In Los Angeles, the capacity of foundations declined by 3 percent, from 37 to 34 percent of foundations, and giving declined by 7 percent, from 38 to 31 percent.
“The regional and county level analyses featured in this study provide the perfect complement to the Foundation Center’s new ‘California Foundations’ report, which looks broadly at changes in resources and giving priorities among California foundations since the late 1990s,” said Steven Lawrence, director of research at the Foundation Center. “Together, these reports provide the most detailed picture available of the state’s foundation community.”
“California Foundations 2004: Trends and Patterns” was developed in cooperation with The Foundation Center and funded by The California Endowment, The James Irvine Foundation and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. A summary of the report is available at http://www.usc.edu/philanthropy.
The report is being released simultaneously with The Foundation Center’s California Foundations: An Update on the State’s Grantmaking Community.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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