Expanding the Sample: An Analysis of Grant-Making Among 345 Education Policy Foundations

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Philanthropic Giving: The Who, What, and Why of Giving

Abstract

Positing that philanthropic foundations seek legitimacy primarily from the field of philanthropy, I hypothesize that foundations respond to the ambiguity of grantmaking by mimicking the foundations that they perceive to be most successful. To test this, I examine philanthropic giving for early childhood and public K-12 education policy by the non-largest private foundations in snapshots between 1987 and 2005 and compare it to that of the 25 largest foundations to understand if the non-largest foundations make grants for the same policy purposes as the largest foundations. I find that policy grantmaking is influenced significantly by foundation size and that there are key differences in policy grantmaking between the 25 largest and the remaining 320 education policy foundations in the sample.

Author

• Shayna M. Klopott, L&G Research and Evaluation