Foundation Research Report

May 15, 2008

To better understand how foundations fulfill their information needs, a survey was conducted of all foundations that granted more than $10 million annually. Almost half of the contacted foundations completed the survey. About 18 percent of the responding foundations employ staff who spend the majority of their time conducting research. Many foundations have chosen instead to employ outside researchers; over 56 percent of foundations funded outside researchers and the vast majority used the resulting research internally. Of the few foundations that conduct research internally, about 89 percent regularly distribute research findings to their boards and over half provide findings to grantees and/or to the public.