Foundations Step Up in Times of Need

According to a newly released study, foundations were very quick in helping with the economic crisis, releasing grants for mortgage delinquencies and then helping with unemployment. This study is considered to be the first formal analysis of grant making activity in response to the economic crisis and remains consistent with past studies in times of crisis or disaster like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Katrina, concluding that government is certainly not the only institution to react in these times of need.

In the study released on May 6, 2010 by The Philanthropic Collaborative and titled, "Responding In Crisis: An Early Analysis of Foundations' Grantmaking During the Economic Crisis," the response of foundations in times of crisis regardless of their own financial distress is described as targeted and timely, directing money toward communities with the most need. The study found that foundations sent more help in the form of grants to states that were experiencing more economic distress in the form of mortgage delinquency and unemployment rates.

An example of this grant making includes the 1, 157 grants given to people in states with higher rates of mortgage delinquency in 2009 as opposed to the previous year in which 352 grants were made in states with lower rates of mortgage delinquency.

According to the author of this study, Dough Holtz-Eakin, "The ability of foundations to be swift and flexible in their response allowed them to modify their giving throughout the crisis and ensure the grants went to those most in need. During the economic collapse, we saw grant making shift, expand and follow the larger unemployment and housing needs that developed and became acute in communities across the country. Even when foundations themselves faced financial stress from the very same crisis, our analysis shows a very clear shift in grant making patterns to meet emerging economic needs."