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This section explores Trusts and Foundations – organisations which are commonly registered charities, although they don’t have to be, whose primary purpose is charitable grantmaking. They range from very small trusts, sometimes created in memory of someone, to some of the largest grantmakers in the country like Wellcome Trust.

Trusts and Foundations are broken down into the following segments: 

  • Family foundation – Foundations funded principally by the personal gift of an individual donor, family or business, whether they have a living family member on the Board or not. 
  • Wellcome Trust – Has its origins as a family foundation but is so large that it is included as a segment of its own to avoid distorting the overall picture.
  • Corporate foundation – Charitable foundations set up by businesses with funding from endowments, annual covenants, or gifts. 
  • Member/Trade Funded organisation – Foundations funded by industry or trade bodies and members, including Livery Companies.
  • Fundraising grantmaker – Organisations who raise money from the public in order to make grants, often through specific appeals or as place-based/thematic giving schemes.
  • Community foundation – Public charity that typically focuses on supporting a geographic area, primarily by facilitating and pooling donations that can be used to address community needs.
  • Government/Lottery Endowed trust – Foundations established by the government or National Lottery distributors, but independent of them. 
  • General foundation – Other trusts and foundations. 

More detail is available in our methodology.

Trusts and Foundations represent the vast majority (91%) of known organisations in the overall profile of UKGrantmaking and over one third of the overall grant amounts distributed – but within this, there is a great deal of diversity in the size and types of organisations and the nature of grants made.

Trusts and Foundations summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

  • Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.
  • Excludes Fantastic Peach Foundation UK, which had grant spending of £28m in 2023-24 but is a time-limited foundation transferring to a Donor-Advised Fund so would skew trends if included for just one year.
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Family foundations

Family foundations have been funded principally by the personal gift of an individual donor, family members or a family business, whether they have a living family member on the Board or not. 314 family foundations were identified – although there may be more, as organisations with low levels of grantmaking were not investigated individually and are included in the ‘general foundation’ segment. We have focused on the 100 organisations with the largest amount of grantmaking, and where more information is available about the organisations. These organisations represent 92% of the total family foundations’ grantmaking spend.

Largest 100 family foundations summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

  • Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.
  • Figures for Arcadia and Julia Rausing Trust include grantmaking but exclude income, expenditure and assets as they are not independently registered and data is not available.
  • Excludes Fantastic Peach Foundation UK, which had grant spending of £28m in 2023-24 but is a time-limited foundation transferring to a Donor-Advised Fund so would skew trends if included for just one year.
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Total grantmaking of the 100 largest family foundations increased by 12% overall – but this was not universal across organisations.

56 funders increased their grantmaking by over 5%, most significantly the four largest family foundations – Children’s Investment Fund, CH Foundation, Arcadia, and Leverhulme Trust – increased grantmaking by over £200m between them. One foundation had a significant decrease, Gatsby Charitable Foundation, which decreased by £75m as it is in the process of spending out.

There are 13 foundations entering the largest 100 family foundations list this year, with the threshold for entering the list increasing from £2.9m to £3.1m.

Investment income is no longer a useful metric for family foundations now that more have moved to a Total Return investment approach and there is a blurred line between income and endowments. As well as general increases in income from investments and donations, there were significant contributions to Rosetrees (£93m additional donations above the previous year), CH Foundation (additional donations of £74m) and Moondance Foundation (additional £54m) which contributed to the higher overall increase. Only one had a decrease in income of over £50m and that was Sigrid Rausing Trust, where significant donations had been made in 2022-23.

Read more about Total Return investments and why investment income is no longer a good predictor of grantmaking.

Similarly, changes to net assets varied significantly in the group with Garfield Weston Foundation increasing by over £1.8bn, Children’s Investment Foundation by over £400m, Denise Coates Foundation by over £200m and Robertson Trust and Moondance Foundation by over £100m. One funder, Leverhulme Trust, reported a decrease in assets by over £100m.

Largest 100 family foundations by grantmaking spend

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

Excludes Fantastic Peach Foundation UK, which had grant spending of £28m in 2023-24 but is a time-limited foundation transferring to a Donor-Advised Fund so would skew trends if included for just one year.

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It should be noted that Wellcome Trust is technically a family foundation but has been recorded separately due to its large scale, with net assets worth almost as much as the largest 100 family foundations put together, distorting underlying trends. Wellcome Trust saw larger increases in grantmaking than the other largest 100 family foundations put together.

Wellcome Trust

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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Corporate foundations

Corporate foundations are generally charitable foundations established and funded by the corporate sector, through company endowments, covenants, or annual gifts. The structures and associations between corporate foundations and their parent company vary greatly.

This section focuses on the largest 50 corporate foundations that represent over 90% of the category’s total grant spending, but, as with family foundations, there are likely to be others that are small or less identifiable in the data. An additional challenge is where the foundation is not independently registered and does not produce its own accounts. In these cases, only the grantmaking figures have been recorded.

Largest 50 corporate foundations summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.
Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.

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Grantmaking of the 50 largest corporate foundations increased by 30% overall, but this was largely driven by significant increases from the two largest foundations: Quadrature Climate Foundation, which increased by £126m, and UBS Optimus Foundation which increased by £88m. More than half the foundations increased their grantmaking by over 5%. Johnson and Johnson Foundation had a decrease of £21m, returning closer to their usual pattern of giving following exceptional grantmaking in 2022-23.

Largest 50 corporate foundations by grantmaking spend

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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Fundraising grantmakers

For fundraising grantmakers, their main income is derived from fundraising, generally from the public, including national appeals such as BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief, or other fundraising activities such as People’s Postcode Lottery or local giving schemes.

Largest 50 fundraising grantmakers summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.
Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.

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Focusing on the largest 50 fundraising grantmakers, who represent 94% of the category’s total grantmaking spend, there was a 7% increase in grantmaking on average, but patterns were varied.

The largest 50 fundraising grantmakers include 20 Postcode Trusts distributing funds from the People’s Postcode Lottery. These 20 Trusts recorded grantmaking of £204m between them, an increase of 15% on the previous year. The remaining 30 fundraising grantmakers recorded grantmaking of £171m between them, an increase of 4% from the previous year – which is less than inflation.

The largest 50 fundraising grantmakers have been split into two tables – one of the Postcode Trusts, and one of the remaining 30 fundraising grantmakers – to provide a clearer picture of trends.

Largest 50 fundraising grantmakers by grantmaking spend (excluding Postcode Trusts)

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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While there is a 4% increase in grantmaking overall in the group, this has been impacted by a decrease of £36m reported by BBC Children in Need due to a change in accounting policies and phasing of grantmaking awards, with a 36% increase reported in the following financial year. Excluding BBC Children in Need, the remaining 29 had an increase of 42% overall, including a £17m increase by the LTA Tennis Foundation and £8m increase by Comic Relief.

Largest 50 fundraising grantmakers by grantmaking spend – Postcode Trusts distributing funds of the People’s Postcode Lottery

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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The 15% increase in 2023-24 follows substantial increases in previous years.

Member/Trade Funded

Member and Trade Funded grantmakers are either currently funded by industry/trade bodies or their members, or were historically endowed by them. This includes professional benevolent funds and Livery Companies. Over 500 organisations were identified, but the vast majority are very small organisations with limited information available. Again, we will focus on the 50 organisations with the largest grantmaking expenditure, representing over 80% of the category total.

Largest 50 Member/Trade Funded organisations summary

UKGrantmaking

360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.
Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.

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Grantmaking increased by just 1% which represents a decrease after adjusting for inflation. While 29 of the 50 had an increase in grantmaking by over 5%, the largest football foundation had a decrease of £15m, impacting the overall picture.

Largest 50 Member/Trade Funded organisations by grantmaking spend

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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Community foundations

Community foundations inspire place-based philanthropy, bring communities together and fund vital work in neighbourhoods across the UK. 

UK Community Foundations (UKCF) is the national membership organisation for all 46 accredited community foundations around the UK, with two international members who are not included in this analysis (Jersey and Bermuda). The collective grantmaking of UKCF’s network in 2023-2024 was £184.4 million, an increase from the previous year. In addition to UKCF’s network, there are two unaccredited community foundations that have been included in this section: Tees Valley Community Foundation and Community Foundation for Wakefield. The total grantmaking including UKCF itself and community foundations outside the network was £196.5m.

Note: Below, ‘Grantmaking Spending’ includes all grantmaking (to organisations and individuals), while ‘Total Spending’ includes all expenditure of the organisation – this reflects that some community foundations deliver programmes and activities beyond grantmaking.

Community foundations vary in size, scale of grant distribution and grantmaking priorities, which is reflected above. 

Community foundations in Scotland and Northern Ireland remain the highest grantmakers overall, while community foundations with a smaller geographical scope have much smaller grantmaking totals.

The majority of community foundations in the UK provided between £1 million and £10 million in 2023-24. Two more community foundations awarded over £10 million in 2023-24 than the previous year.

Community foundations summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.
Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.

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Grantmaking increased by 11% overall, including a £10 million increase from Heart of England Community Foundation, largely through the delivery of the Inclusive Communities Fund as a legacy of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Excluding Heart of England there has been a 5.7% increase in grantmaking, so broadly flat when adjusted for inflation.

Community foundations by grantmaking spend

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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Government/Lottery Endowed trusts

These are organisations established by government or National Lottery distributors, but independent of them.

Government/Lottery Endowed trusts summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.
Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.

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Overall the group reported a 14% increase, but this was an increase of £42m by Social Investment Business distributing the Youth Investment Fund, and a decrease by all others. Excluding Social Investment Business, the group had a decrease of 28%. This is expected as the majority of the organisations were founded over a decade ago and several are in the process of spending out and closing down.

Government/Lottery Endowed trusts by grantmaking spend

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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General foundations

General foundations are the remaining foundations which don’t meet the criteria for the other groups. There are over 10,000 organisations, the majority of which are very small with limited information available on them. Even the 100 largest organisations are diverse in size and nature, but represent 45% of the category’s total grantmaking spend.

Largest 100 general foundations summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.
Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.

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There has been a 10% increase in grantmaking overall for this segment, but this was by no means consistent for all the funders in the group. 58 reported an increase of over 5%, 26 had a decrease by over 5% and the remainder gave at a similar level.

One foundation reported an increase in grantmaking of over £25m – Breakthrough Foundation (increase by £44m, following an increase of donations during the year of £35m). One decreased by over £25m, Sequoia Trust (£36m decrease) which appears to be as a result of exceptional donations and grantmaking in 2022.

Largest 100 general foundations by grantmaking spend

2023-24 and previous year
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

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Largest 300 Trusts and Foundations

It is interesting to look at the largest 300 foundations across these segments together. Taken collectively, these Trusts and Foundations provided grants of over £6 billion in 2023-24, an increase of 16% from the previous year. Excluding Wellcome Trust, grants to the value of almost £5bn were reported, an increase of 15% on the previous year.

Largest 300 Trusts and Foundations summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

  • Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.
  • Excludes Fantastic Peach Foundation UK, which had grant spending of £28m in 2023-24 but is a time-limited foundation transferring to a Donor Advised Fund so would skew trends if included for just one year.
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Examining the 10 largest grant spending organisations, it is interesting to note that 6 are family foundations. The threshold to be on the list of the 300 largest foundations has increased from £3.4m to £3.7m.

Largest 300 Trusts and Foundations by grantmaking spend

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.

Notes: Excludes Fantastic Peach Foundation UK, which had grant spending of £28m in 2023-24 but is a time-limited foundation transferring to a Donor-Advised Fund so would skew trends if included for just one year.

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Endowments

In the sections above we have looked at the trends in assets over a one year period, however, many of these foundations take a long-term view, with some having held and developed assets for decades, if not centuries.

An endowment is a financial asset, typically in the form of an investment fund, which is established by a charitable foundation or organisation to provide a long-term, stable source of income for its activities and operations. The principal amount of the endowment is usually preserved, while the income generated from the investments is used to support the foundation’s objectives and grantmaking. Some foundations have what is known as an expendable endowment, which allows them to use the endowment more flexibly to further their charitable objectives without preserving it or focusing on the accumulation of assets to generate future income. This can include ‘spending down’ to close the organisation rather than requiring it to exist in perpetuity, or making social investments where income returns may be lower or non-existent.

To consider this longer-term picture, we have looked at the five-year trends of the 100 organisations with the largest endowments – noting that changes in endowment values are a reflection of not only investment performance, but also organisational strategy which may include distributing assets through grantmaking.

The total value of the largest 100 endowments in 2023-24 was £50bn excluding Wellcome Trust, and £81bn including Wellcome. Note that the largest 100 endowments includes Charities who make grants, not just Trusts and Foundations.

There were some newly created organisations, or newly donated endowment funds, during the period, so we have considered the trends of only the 94 organisations with an endowment over the whole five-year period.

Grantmakers with the largest endowments summary

Total endowment, 2019-20 to 2023-24 (£ millions)
UKGrantmaking

360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts • Adjusted for inflation, using CPI.
Based on trends for 94 grantmakers with five years of data on endowments.

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Endowment levels have remained relatively flat in recent years, representing a decline in real terms since 2020-21. For those with March financial year ends, there was a temporary dip at the end of 2019-20 reflecting how the uncertainty of the pandemic impacted market values in March 2020, but this quickly returned in 2020-21. The change between the years is partially a consequence of the year-end snapshot timing rather than a reflection of underlying performance. Nevertheless, the higher inflation since 2021 has had an impact, with growth in endowment values not sustained at these high rates, representing an erosion overall.

Grantmakers with the largest endowments

Total endowment, 2019-20 to 2023-24 (£ millions)
UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts • Adjusted for inflation, using CPI.
Based on trends for 94 grantmakers with five years of data on endowments.

XLSX (16 KB)

The relationship between grantmaking and endowments/assets is explored further in our blog considering payout rates.

New foundations

No new foundations entered the largest grantmakers list in 2023-24 in their first year of grantmaking – which contrasts with recent years where we saw the founding of several grantmakers during, and directly following, the pandemic.

While there have always been time-limited foundations, an observation during 2023-24 included foundations who entered the list of largest foundations as they were spending out, despite being new.

For example, Fantastic Peach Foundation, set up by the Dahl family, made its first grants in 2022-23 of £3.5m, increasing to £28.3m in 2023-24 including a transfer of £21.8m to a Donor-Advised Fund. It is a new foundation, but already in the process of spending out.

Similarly, Project Giving Back was founded by two private philanthropists and made grants of £5.7m in 2023 and £4.9m in 2024 and plans to spend out by 2026.

Some foundations appeared in the list of largest grantmakers for the first time, not because they are new, but because they have substantially increased grantmaking to spend out – for example the Nigel Vinson Charitable Trust was established in 1973 and closed in 2023, increasing grantmaking from around £200k a year to £4.2m as it made a grant to the Institute of Economic Affairs to spend out the assets.

Over 200 new foundations were registered in 2023 and 2024, some of which may move into the largest foundations lists in future years.

ACF members

The Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) is the membership association for foundations and independent grantmakers in the UK. Its purpose is to strengthen trusts and foundations so they can rise to the challenges of our times and they do this through the provision of policy and advocacy, research and information, and a wide-ranging programme of events and learning. In 2023-24, the largest 200 members collectively held assets of over £75bn and distributed grants of £6.2bn, an increase of 13% from 2022-23. In addition, it supported 170 collaborative projects between funders on the Funders Collaborative Hub.

Largest 200 ACF members summary

UKGrantmaking

Source: 360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators and charity accounts.
Percentage change calculated only for organisations with data in both years.

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