The Foundation Center and Grantmakers in the Arts Announce New Benchmark Study on Arts Funding Trends

This publication is an Update on Foundation Trends, the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis available of foundation giving patterns for arts, culture, humanities, and media. The study includes estimates of overall foundation funding for the arts and finds that grantmakers' support decreased 3.5 percent to an estimated $4.05 billion in 2002, after peaking at an estimated $4.2 billion in 2001. This modest reduction in foundation arts giving came at a time when some feared deep cuts in support in the wake of the stock market crash, the events of September 11, 2001, and the failure of the economy to stage a rebound.