How much money do family foundations give away each year?
Family foundations gave away approximately $13 billion in grants in 2004, about 40 percent of all foundation giving. Family foundation giving is as unique as each family that creates the foundation. Some families give to help others affected by tragedies they themselves have borne: fighting cancer, birth defects, domestic violence and other social ills. Others give to repay the locales that helped them prosper: educational institutions, social services, the arts and community groups. Some foundations concentrate on a wide variety of causes within a geographic focus. Most family foundations limit their giving to local communities, states and regions. However, a growing percentage of family foundations fund internationally.
