PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Foundation in 2022 had its second-best grantmaking year and its third-best fundraising year in the nonprofit funder’s century-plus history.
The foundation announced Tuesday that it awarded $84 million in grants to approximately 2,400 nonprofits and raised $75 million in 2022. The number of grant awards last year was about $7 million more than what the foundation awarded in 2021.
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It is also the second time in the last three years that the foundation has awarded in excess of $80 million throughout a calendar year. In 2020, with Rhode Island in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation awarded what is still a record $87 million in grants.
Total assets at the end of 2022 for the foundation stood at approximately $1.3 billion, a drop from the $1.4 billion it had at the end of 2021. The foundation said that in a year when the Standard and Poor’s 500 market was down 18.1%, the foundation’s endowment return was only down 10.6%. Its long-term returns saw a 20-year annualized return of 8.1% in 2022, the foundation said.
The state’s largest nonprofit funder also said its COVID-19 response grantmaking continued last year. It partnered with the state to distribute $20 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to the community.
As part of the foundation’s focus on addressing racial disparity in the Ocean State, it also offered in 2022 $2 million in grants to address structural racism through its new Racial Equity and Social Justice Program, the foundation said. The foundation also raised $854,761 for its Civic Leadership Fund, which helps the organization go beyond grantmaking to meet opportunities and challenges, as well as engage Rhode Islanders in civic and civil dialogue.
“In addition to our focus on core initiatives, our aid brought relief to Rhode Islanders who are coping with hunger, surging housing prices and the behavioral health crisis as they struggle to recover from the pandemic,” said Foundation CEO and President Neil D. Steinberg, who will retire in May. “We are grateful for our passionate and committed donors and the nonprofit organizations that deliver a wide range of services to our diverse community.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
