The Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) releases its 2010 Outlook Report today, which finds that overall giving is estimated to decline for the second year in a row. Some indicators, however, signal that grantmakers are less pessimistic about their giving in 2010 than they were at this time last year.
- Giving by grantmakers in Minnesota is estimated to decrease by approximately 1 percent in 2010 compared to 2009; a year ago, grantmaking was estimated to decline by 4 percent in 2009 from 2008.
- Thirty percent of grantmakers expect to give less in 2010, while 25 percent expect to give more. This is an improvement over expectations captured last year, in MCF’s 2009 Outlook Report, when 40 percent expected decreases and only 15 percent expected increases.
- Of those grantmakers with assets, 58 percent expect them to increase in 2010, and 8 percent anticipate a decrease. A year ago, just 13 percent of grantmakers expected their assets to increase in 2009, while 52 percent anticipated a decrease.
“2009 was such a tumultuous and uncertain year for nonprofits and grantmakers, so these subtle yet positive changes are encouraging,” notes Bill King, MCF president. “But these indicators really reflect less pessimism rather than true optimism for the coming year. The outlook for grantmakers and the nonprofit community remains challenging.”
Other key findings in the report:
- Twenty percent of grantmakers expect to decrease the number of grants they make in 2010, and 10 percent expect to decrease the sizes of grants awarded.
- Among all types of grantmakers, corporate foundations and giving programs are most likely to expect their 2010 giving to remain the same as 2009.
- Seventy percent of grantmakers report they currently are providing some kind of assistance to those affected by the economic downturn. Basic needs – food, housing and jobs – are the areas these grantmakers are mostly likely to support.
- Grantmakers express concern about the well-being of their nonprofit partners, which are under significant programmatic and financial strains resulting from increased demands for services and decreased resources.
To explore what these findings mean for the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors in the coming year, MCF will host “2010 Funding Outlook for Minnesota Grantmakers and Nonprofits” on Friday, Jan. 29, 8:45 to 11:45 am, at Neighborhood House at Wellstone Center, St. Paul.
