Foundations Rising, Not Setting In the West.

The assets of foundations in the western United States leapfrogged other regions for the first time, growing to $107.1 billion in 1999 due to rapid growth in investments, high rates of creation, and a record gift.

According to the New York City-based Foundation Center's Foundation Yearbook: Facts and Figures on Private and Community Foundations, 2001 Edition, the 31.9 percent gain surpassed the Midwest's $101.5 billion assets, and the South's $94 billion.

The fact that the West increased assets faster than the other regions is nothing new, said Steven Lawrence, director of research at the Foundation Center.

"What's unique is that the West, beginning with 1975, which is the first for which we have comprehensive information, always had the smallest share of all U.S. foundation assets," explained Lawrence. "Really, I think the rapid growth in foundation endowments in the West mirrors just the population shifts and economic growth in the region. U.S. economic growth has favored the West to a great extent."

Lawrence attributed the West's surge to the burgeoning economy of the mid-to-late 1990s, and especially the growth in the technological sector. The rise of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the David & Lucille Packard Foundation were important factors in the West's expansion, he added.

The center surveyed the top 22,000 foundations in the nation and compiled information from annual reports, and from public information returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service by all private foundations. The 2000 giving projections in the report are based on survey figures reported by 1,660 large and mid-size foundations, combined with year-end fiscal indicators.

Key findings of the survey include:

* Giving increased 18.4 percent, to an estimated $27.6 billion in 2000, up a record $4.3 billion;

* Prospects for maintaining recent gains in giving over long term appear strong;

* Funding by the top 25 foundations climbed more than 43 percent in 1999, surpassing foundations overall;

* Assets of all active U.S. foundations were $448.6 billion in 1999, up 16.5 percent from the prior year;

* Gifts and bequests from donors to their foundations jumped more than 42 percent in 1999 to a record $32.1 billion.

Foundations in five states accounted for nearly half of 1999 giving

1999

Total Giving = $23.3 billion


Texas             5.0%
Illinois          5.3%
Pennsylvania      5.5%
California        11.9%
New York          19.3%
All other States  53.0%



Source: Foundation Yearbook, 2001.

Note: Table made from pie chart.