Annual donations by Orange County’s largest individual and family foundations collectively dipped less than 1% from a year earlier, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The 37 private foundations gave a total of $139.3 million during their latest reported fiscal years. Their assets climbed 3% during the same spans to a total $1.52 billion.
The relatively unchanged level of charitable giving follows a 9% decline marked on last year’s list.
This week’s list ranks foundations by annual contributions based on the most recent numbers available. Some numbers reflect fiscal years ended in 2011; other entries go back to 2010.
About half of the listed foundations—19—increased their donations, while 13 saw declines. Five foundations kept their donations the same as a year earlier.
Nationally, foundation giving was up about 2% in 2011, when 76,600 foundations in the U.S. gave $46.9 billion, according to New York-based Foundation Center. The research organization said the total amount would be down from the previous year if inflation were taken into account.
Foundations nationwide had “a marginal 0.3% asset increase to an estimated $646.1 billion [on] wild swings in the market in 2011,” according to Foundation Center.
Contributions from OC’s top three foundations accounted for about 67% of the total giving here.
The Marisla Foundation in Laguna Beach topped the list again this year, with $46 million in giving during 2011 for a 26% increase from a year earlier. Funds were distributed to Oceana Inc., Nature Conservancy and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, among others.
Its assets at the end of the fiscal year were roughly the same as a year earlier, at $66.5 million. The Marisla Foundation was established by oil heiress Anne Getty Earhart.
Irvine-based William and Sue Gross Family Foundation was No. 2, with $25 million in donations in a 3% decrease from a year earlier. Local recipients of funds from the foundation included the Laguna Beach Community Clinic and organizations that serve the homeless, such as Friendship Shelter and Project Dignity.
The foundation annually funds the OC Teachers of the Year awards and also gives to national and international entities that aim to address world issues, poverty and education. Its assets rose 6% to $350 million last year.
No. 3 Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation in Irvine gave $21.9 million through a fiscal year ended in August 2011, up roughly 3% from the previous year. Largest donations the past year went to schools, such as University of California, Irvine; Orange Unified School District; Stanford University; and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
The Beckman Foundation has the highest amount of assets among the listed organizations, with a total of $497.9 million.
Newport Beach-based Beall Family Foundation more than tripled its donations in 2010—the latest year for which data were available—with contributions totaling $3.1 million. The increase pushed the foundation up the rankings to No. 7 from No. 16.
The foundation gives with a focus on the arts, education and science. Its donations went to Hoag Hospital Foundation, UCI Foundation and Westside Waldorf School, among others.
Up 6 Spots
Dana Point-based George T. Pfleger Foundation moved up six spots to No. 16, with a donation total of $1.1 million for 2010. That was three times more than its donations a year earlier, when the foundation reduced giving by 80%.
The foundation’s focus includes helping children and supporting other human services organizations. About 9% of donations went to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. Part of the total contributions went to Cri-Help Inc. for aquarium upkeep and Save the Children Federation Inc. for relief efforts in Haiti, according to foundation documents.
No. 22 Newport Beach-based George E. Hewitt Foundation for Medical Research gave $638,667 in 2010, a 47% increase. It had the largest growth rate in assets, up more than four times to $27 million. Its donations went mostly to individuals as research grants.
No. 17 Samueli Foundation in Corona del Mar was among the foundations that cut back on giving, donating $1.1 million throughout 2010 in a 14% decrease from 2009. The foundation had assets of about $427,000 at the end of 2010, up from roughly $174,000 a year earlier.
The Donald Bren Foundation in Newport Beach cut giving by 89%, the largest drop on the list. Its donations totaled $335,000 during a fiscal year ended in November, down from $3 million a year prior. The decrease pushed the foundation down 20 spots in ranking to No. 26.
A spokesperson said that Bren, chairman of Newport Beach-based developer Irvine Company, makes various donations on a personal basis as well as through his foundation, and his giving came to $8 million for the period.
Kay Family Foundation in Irvine was a newcomer to this year’s list, arriving at No. 21 with $670, 500 of charitable contributions for the year ended through June 2010 after a 56% increase. The foundation had $27.8 million in assets at the end of last year.
The B. John Garrick Foundation for the Advancement of the Risk Sciences also was new to the list at No. 36, with $50,000 in charitable giving through September, flat from a year earlier. The Laguna Beach-based foundation has about $950,000 in assets, a 2% uptick from a year ago.
Download the 2012 OC’s LARGEST PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS COs list (pdf)
