‘Philanthropic Divide’ Between States Widens, Report Finds

Original Source The gap between the ten states with the most foundation assets and the ten states with the least continues to widen, a new report from the Helena-based Big Sky Institute for the Advancement of Nonprofits finds. According to the report, The Philanthropic Divide 2007 (18 pages, PDF), average total foundation assets in each of the top ten states in 1988 were almost $9.26 billion, while the average in the bottom ten states was roughly $63 million, a difference of $9.2 billion. Using findings from the Foundation Center’s Foundation Yearbook 2007 (4 pages, PDF), the report found that by 2005 the gap had nearly quadrupled, to $36.1 billion. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford and Kellogg foundations, the report also found that per-capita grantmaking disparities between the top and bottom states are growing. The top ten states, for example, averaged $171 in grants per capita in 2005, while the bottom ten averaged only $34. The report was released in anticipation of the one-year anniversary of a national conference on rural philanthropy held in Missoula, Montana. Mike Schechtman, director of the Big Sky Institute, told the Missoulian that while the conference highlighted the philanthropic challenges facing Montana and other rural states, “our report…highlights the accelerated growth in philanthropic disparities that dominates every day realities for nonprofits in rural America.” Group: Montana Near Bottom of Widening Philanthropic Gap. The Missoulian 7/22/08.