Family foundation giving is higher in the UK than the US relative to GDP, new research shows.

Professor Cathy Pharoah’s report, Family Foundation Philanthropy, launched at Cass Business School this week, was funded by the Pears Foundation and establishes, for the first time, a comparative benchmark of family foundation philanthropy in the UK, the rest of Europe and the US.

The report showed that the largest 100 UK family foundations’ giving is worth 0.07% of GDP, which surpasses the 0.04% for the US and 0.02% for the rest of Europe.

However Pharoah’s research also shows that overall family foundation giving is still highest in the US.  The largest 100 family foundations in the US gave over £3bn in 2004-5, compared to £1.25bn in Europe and £908m in the UK.

Fifteen of the largest UK family foundations gave enough to qualify for the US top 100 list, which is "underpinned by a robust base of long-term sustainable endowments" giving away an average £8m a year.  But the author also notes that "it remains the case that family foundations in the UK contribute a higher proportionate amount to total foundation giving than in the US."

The report states: "This [research] reinforces the point that although the largest 100 UK family foundations give less in total than their US and European counterparts, they make a higher proportionate contribution to philanthropic activity."

The research also found that the top 100 UK family foundations held over three-quarters of all charitable foundation assets in the UK, compared with just 17% in the US.

This massive difference shows how private giving in the UK – and its charitable beneficiaries – depends much more heavily on family foundations’ philanthropy.

Speaking to Philanthropy UK, Pharoah said, "It would be great to see more donors consider family trusts as a way of giving. The US experience shows the important role that small and medium-sized trusts play in funding the sector. Family trusts bring benefits to individuals, families, family businesses as well as to their beneficiaries, through their scope for creating long-lasting commitments and personal programmes."

Top five largest UK family foundations by giving (2006)

1. Wellcome Trust  (£324.7m)
2. Gatsby Charitable Foundation  (£53.8m)
3. Wolfson Foundation  (£38.1m)
4. Garfield Weston Foundation  (£37.8m)
5. Leverhulme Trust   (£29.6m)
 
Top five largest US family foundations by giving (2005)

1. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ( £690m)
2. Lilly Endowment Inc. (£217.78m)
3. The Annenberg Foundation  (£128.2m)
4. Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (2004) ( £115.1m)
5. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (£76.46m)