The Foundation Center reports that grantmaking by corporate foundations held steady in 2008, but it was unable to keep up with inflation and is expected to fall in 2009.
Much of that decline is due to the effect of the recession on corporate profits, particularly in the banking and financial industries, which have accounted for about a quarter of corporate giving in recent years.Since 1990, giving by corporate foundations has grown at a cumulative rate of 90 percent, significantly slower than community foundations, which posted a growth rate of 479 percent, and independent foundations, whose giving grew 209 percent over the same period.
Corporate foundation giving now accounts for 10 percent of all foundation giving, down from a 17 percent share in 1990.
