Operations
Staff and financial resources are important to monitor for smaller foundations who are looking to grow, and for larger foundations who are looking for the flexibility to diversify their offerings.
Revenue mix
Administrative fees are the main source of community foundation operating revenues field-wide. Larger community foundations are more likely to supplement fees with fee for service revenues, while smaller community foundations tend to do more direct fundraising to support operations. Community foundations often seek to generate surplus revenues that could be reinvested into community leadership initiatives.
All respondents
- Administrative
fees - Fees for service
- Fundraising
operations - Fundraising
programmatic - Distribution from
endowment/
reserve - Other revenue
| Size of foundation | Administrative fees | Fees for service | Fundraising: operations | Fundraising: programmatic | Distribution from endowment/reserve | Other revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0-$25M | 62% | 3% | 19% | 6% | 6% | 5% |
| $25-$50M | 70% | 0% | 10% | 3% | 10% | 6% |
| $50-$100M | 68% | 0% | 13% | 5% | 9% | 4% |
| $100-$250M | 73% | 1% | 11% | 5% | 6% | 4% |
| $250-$500M | 80% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| $500M+ | 77% | 5% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| All | 72% | 2% | 10% | 4% | 7% | 5% |
Operational expenses
It is typical for two-thirds of operating expenses to go toward staff capacity, regardless of the size of the community foundation.
All respondents
- Personnel
expenses - Non-personnel
expenses
| Size of foundation | Personnel expenses | Non-personnel expenses |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$25M | 60% | 40% |
| $25-$50M | 63% | 37% |
| $50-$100M | 62% | 38% |
| $100-$250M | 70% | 30% |
| $250-$500M | 73% | 27% |
| $500M+ | 68% | 32% |
| All | 66% | 34% |
Surplus vs. subsidy
Just over one quarter of all annual survey participants reported any level of operating deficit in 2020 - which is unchanged from the year prior. For these community foundations, and more generally, operating deficits are covered by unrestricted funds, which limits their flexibility to invest in foundation-operated initiatives and community leadership.
- Significant subsidy
- Modest subsidy
- Breakeven
- Modest surplus
- Significant surplus
| Significant subsidy | Modest subsidy | Breakeven | Modest surplus | Significant surplus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surplus vs. Subsidy | 6% | 12% | 23% | 41% | 18% |
Expense to asset ratio
The field median expense to asset ratio decreased slightly in 2020 from the year before (1.2 percent in 2019), though the median for small community foundations increased significantly over that same time, from 1.6 percent to 2.0 percent. As is generally the case, larger community foundations achieve an economy of scale that results in typically lower ratios than for smaller community foundations, though operating model differences at individual community foundations will have an impact on this metric.
Field Median: 1.1%
Funds per full-time equivalent
Larger community foundations tend to maintain relatively complex operating models, requiring a higher number of specialized staff who will be less likely to manage donor funds.