by Melissa Whitten Private Foundations and Charitable Trusts, 1996 Melissa Whitten is an economist with the Special Studies

Private foundations provided more than $15.1billion in contributions, gifts, and grants for1996, an 18-percent increase over 1995. These outlays, which are generally awarded to charitable organizations, communities, or individuals, contrib-ute to the operation of charitable programs in such areas as education, arts and humanities, health, human services, and environmental protection [1]. Foundations, which are tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3), are required annually to file the information return, Form 990-PF. The 50,811 returns filed for 1996, including both domestic and foreign foundations, represented an increase of 6 percent from the prior year. Total fair market value of assets for private foundations grew by 19 percent to $312.8 billion for 1996, with investment assets, at $291.1 billion, representing the majority of that amount. Gains of 23 percent and 10 percent, respectively, in the value of investments in corporate stock and corporate bonds contributed to the 18-percent overall increase in investment assets. Total revenue, at $49.6 billion, grew by more than 50 percent. The substantial increase in total revenue was due, in large part, to an increase of more than 100 percent in contributions received, which totaled $21.0 billion. This dramatic rise can be interpreted, in part, as a recovery from the uncharacteristic 20-percent decrease in contributions received for 1995. Additionally, two foundation