August 11, 2009 — When we think of private foundations, names such as Gates, Ford, and Rockefeller come first to mind. But those billion-dollar foundations represent a very small segment of the philanthropic sector. Of the 72,000 foundations in the United States, fewer than 50 have endowments of more than $1 billion. The vast majority, more than 90 percent, have endowments of less than $10 million. Most of these organizations are family foundations.
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Social Justice Philanthropy Seeing a Resurgence, Foundation Center Study Finds
New York, July 15, 2009 — After a number of years of declining faith in the efficacy of social justice philanthropy, grantmakers and practitioners alike are showing renewed optimism, according to Social Justice Grantmaking II, a benchmarking study released today by the Foundation Center that provides an in-depth look at current attitudes and giving patterns of social justice philanthropists.
Read MoreCarnegie, Gates, Hewlett Foundations Unite to Tackle Roadblocks to Student Success
June 3, 2009 — The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced a $2.5 million investment to identify promising strategies to dramatically improve college success rates, especially among those students least prepared for college-level work.
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