The Global Philanthropy Report, conducted by researchers at Harvard Kennedy School’s Hauser Institute for Civil Society with funding from UBS, is the most comprehensive analysis to date of global philanthropic practices and trends.

Key findings:

  • The global philanthropy sector is young and growing fast, with 72 percent of foundations established in the past 25 years.
  • Foundations are highly concentrated geographically, with 60 percent of the over 260,000 identified by the report based in Europe and 35 percent in North America.
  • While the combined assets of the world’s foundations are estimated at close to USD 1.5 trillion, half have no paid staff and small budgets of under USD 1 million. In fact, 90 percent of identified foundations have assets less than USD 10 million.
  • Resources are highly concentrated in certain sectors, with education the most popular area for investment.
  • Despite this, 58 percent of the foundations identified do not collaborate with other foundations.

Developed over three years with inputs from twenty research teams across nineteen countries and Hong Kong, the report marks an important milestone in understanding the magnitude of global philanthropic investment and helping to create an evidence-based discussion on global philanthropy.

In recent years, philanthropy has witnessed a promising shift. Wealthy individuals, families, and corporations are looking to give more, to give more strategically, and to increase the impact of their social investments. A rapidly growing number of philanthropists are establishing foundations and institutions to focus, practice, and amplify these investments.

As the world is falling well short of raising the USD 5-7 trillion of annual investment needed to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, UBS sees the report findings as a call for philanthropists to work together to scale their impact.

Understanding this need for collaboration, UBS established a global community for its clients where philanthropists can work together to drive sustainable impact. Established in 2015 and now with over 400 members, the Global Philanthropists Community hosted by UBS is the world’s largest private network aimed at facilitating collaboration among philanthropists and social investors.

To download the full report please click this Dropbox link