State’s foundations boost helping hands

Georgia’s foundations gave away more than $736 million in 2006, the latest year for which figures have been compiled.

Though the state has some heavyweight foundations such as the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, which gave away more than $100 million, and the UPS Foundation, which put $41 million in the pockets of charities and nonprofits, the majority of them are small and gave away less than $100,000 in 2006.

Many smaller foundations were started in Atlanta in the past decade, said Pattie Johnson, the director of the Atlanta office of the Foundation Center, which compiled the report. That probably reflects growing wealth in the region and companies that located offices in Atlanta during boom years.

“Usually, it takes 20 years from the time a foundation is started until it reaches its maximum or peak,” she said.

That means the foundations started recently will be doing metro Atlanta and Georgia the most good around 2020.

Johnson said it will be interesting to see what effects the downturn in the economy will have on donations. In several previous economic slumps since the 1980s, giving increased by a small amount.

 SHANNON PEAVY / Staff
TOP GEORGIA FOUNDATIONS BY GIVING, 2006
Foundation name ...............................Total giving*
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation .................$100,309,712 
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta ..$89,391,237 
The UPS Foundation ............................$41,360,430 
The Marcus Foundation Inc. ....................$33,681,434 
J. Bulow Campbell Foundation...................$29,022,499 
The Coca-Cola Foundation Inc. ................ $23,834,669 
The Goizueta Foundation .......................$23,394,069 
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation ........ $19,485,244 
Bradley-Turner Foundation Inc. ................$17,478,783 
Turner Foundation Inc. ........................$8,576,439 
*Includes grants, scholarships and employee matching gifts; excludes set-asides, loans, PRIs and program expenses. 
Source: The Foundation Center

HOW THE GIVING STACKS UP, 2006 
Total giving range
Up to $50,000 (731)...........52%
$50,000—-$100,000 (211)......15%
$100,000—-$500,000 (298).....21%
$500,000—-$1 million (66).....5% 
$1 million—-$5 million (77)...6%
$5 million and more (16).......1%
Note: Based on 1,399 grantmaking Georgia foundations. Actual number per category shown in parentheses.
Source: The Foundation Center

GROWING GROUPS 
Number of foundations
2001: 1,257
2006: 1,399

Total giving
2001: $727.3 million
2006: $736.7 million

Total assets
2001: $8.8 billion
2006: $11.5 billion
 
Gifts received
2001: $394 million
2006: $891.2 million
Note: Figures exclude grantmaking public charities. 
Source: The Foundation Center