Giving crosses US$100 billion as foundation assets hit a record
PRIVATE US foundations surpassed US$100 billion in giving for the first time last year as assets surged to an all-time high, according to a report from FoundationMark.
Rich benefactors’ charitable organisations held roughly US$1.64 trillion in 2024, up nearly 12 per cent from the prior year, said the firm, which tracks private foundations’ assets and performance. That allowed them to distribute an estimated US$105 billion in grants.
The increase reflects two strong years of investment performance, as the S&P 500 Index posted its best back-to-back annual gains since the late 1990s. The ultra-wealthy were the biggest beneficiaries, with the world’s 500 richest people adding US$1.5 trillion in net worth last year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Their foundations have reaped the rewards too. Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang’s foundation saw its assets, which mostly consist of Nvidia shares, more than triple to US$3.4 billion at the end of 2023, according to its most recent tax filing. To account for the growth, the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation had to give away at least US$120 million last year – double what it did in 2023.
This year is likely to bring more of the same, said FoundationMark CEO John Seitz. “Barring a stock meltdown, I would think we could look for double-digit, or nearly double-digit growth, in 2025.”
The Internal Revenue Service requires that private foundations give away at least 5 per cent of their assets annually. While some billionaire-backed non-profits have fallen short of that target, foundations overall are donating more than the minimum, according to FoundationMark’s data.
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“There’s always calls for people to say why they don’t give more, but the growth rate for their giving has been 8.2 per cent compounded over the last five years,” Seitz said.
Giving shift
The rise in giving reflects a deeper shift in how foundations are thinking about their money. Miki Akimoto, chief impact officer at the National Center for Family Philanthropy, said she’s hearing foundations talk less about hitting the 5 per cent target, and more about the money required to meet the needs of the community or issue they support.
In a 2025 survey of family foundations, 74 per cent identified as issue-focused compared with 54 per cent in 2015, according to the centre’s benchmarking report. They also reported a decline in general operational grants to 66 per cent in 2025 from 83 per cent in 2020. This may reflect a growing focus on more targeted gifts, Akimoto said.
More foundations are also setting deadlines to give away all their money, another factor that could be driving the increase in giving. Billionaire Chuck Feeney used Atlantic Philanthropies to disburse everything before he died in 2023. Laurene Powell Jobs, founder of Emerson Collective, started her climate-focused non-profit Waverley Street Foundation with US$3.5 billion and a deadline of a decade to spend it down.
The number of foundations with limited lifespans grew to 13 per cent in 2025 from 9 per cent in 2020. Those evaluating the question jumped to 26 per cent from 18 per cent.
“For me, the more notable trend in some ways is that families are engaging with that question on an active basis, rather than passively assuming it’s going to be in perpetuity,” she said. BLOOMBERG
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