What is the percentage of grant proposals that foundations actually fund?
This is a commonly asked question with no single or simple answer. Many factors influence a grantmaker’s decision whether or not to fund a proposal. What is true is that most foundations receive more proposals than they can fund. One source that gets close to answering this question is the Foundation Center’s Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates, 2004 Preview (pp. 14-15). Based on responses from 878 grantmakers, in 2004: • One-third received fewer than 50 proposals; 38 percent of them funded at least half of the proposals. • 6 percent received more than 1,000 proposals each; 11 percent of them funded at least half of the proposals. • Overall, 35 percent funded 50 percent or more of the grant requests they received. • Corporate foundations receive a higher volume of proposals, compared to independent and community foundations. • Foundations that reported giving of less than $1 million funded a larger share of their grant requests than foundations with giving of $10 million or more. By
