Report updates foundation giving numbers

Here’s some good news on the funding front: The more than 75,000 grantmaking foundations in America increased their giving 2.8 percent in 2008 to an estimated $45.6 billion, according to the Foundation Center‘s new report, Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: Current Outlook. Findings suggest that this year foundation giving will decrease in the range of the high single digits to low double digits, despite estimated foundation assets declining 21.9 percent in 2008. The report also says corporate foundation giving held steady at $4.4 billion last year. (Entire PDF report here.)