Philanthropic giving by U.S. private and community foundations, companies, and high-net-worth individuals in support of COVID-19 response and relief efforts totaled $1 billion in 2021, a report from Candid and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) finds.

Funded by the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation and based on Candid data, the report, Philanthropy and COVID-19 Examining two years of giving (50 pages, PDF), identified 6,283 COVID-related awards from 229 funders as of December 15, 2021. The dataset excludes major gifts made in December by MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett—who did not disclose grant recipients or amounts at the time—as well as small donations from individuals. According to the analysis, 18 percent of COVID-19 funding was explicitly designated as flexible or general support, up from 16 percent in 2020 (excluding grants from Scott totaling $4.2 billion, which pushed the 2020 percentage to 43 percent). Community foundations awarded the largest share of their COVID-related funding in the form of unrestricted grants, at 49 percent ($27 million), followed by grantmaking public charities (23 percent, $31 million); corporations, corporate foundations, and LLCs (15 percent, $48 million); and independent foundations (11 percent, $55 million).

In addition, the study found that 17 percent of 2021 COVID-related funding supported policy, advocacy, and systems change, with most of those dollars designated for efforts to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and treatment, as well as to broader health and mental health care, education, and other services. Of U.S.-focused funding—which accounted or 64 percent of total COVID funding—27 percent was targeted to racial and ethnic groups, 71 percent of which was broadly designated for “racial equity” or “communities of color.” Corporations, corporate foundations, and LLCs awarded the largest share of their COVID-related funding to racial and ethnic groups, at 35 percent ($45 million), followed by independent foundations (31 percent, $79 million), community foundations (29 percent, $15 million), and grantmaking public charities (9 percent, $8 million). Funding designated for specific ethnic and racial identities, either exclusively or in combination with other groups, included $19 million for Black/African Americans, $15 million for Latinx/Hispanic Americans, $12 million for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, $8 million for Indigenous Peoples, and $2.1 million for Middle Eastern Americans.

At the same time, data from Candid’s Foundation Giving Forecast Survey showed that among 490 large U.S. foundations that shared data for both fiscal years 2020 and 2021, COVID-related foundation funding declined 31 percent in FY21, even as overall grantmaking increased 11 percent. COVID funding accounted for 7 percent of total grantmaking in FY21, compared with 12 percent in FY20. Corporate foundation funding for COVID response and relief efforts fell by 76 percent; while that of community foundations and independent foundations fell 43 percent and 24 percent.

The report highlights the need for more philanthropic support for long-term recovery, and CDP suggests steps funders can take, including increasing support to marginalized communities, providing flexible funding to grantees, implementing trust-based philanthropy, and funding local and grassroots organizations as much as possible.

“Overall, surveyed funders did not maintain their COVID-19 support in the second year of the pandemic,” said Candid director of research Grace Sato. “But defining COVID-19 support can be challenging. Since there isn’t a universal definition of COVID-19 funding, survey respondents used their own criteria to estimate how much of their grant payments were allocated for COVID-19. Many may not have considered increased general support or increased flexibility as part of their pandemic funding.”

“Our communities—especially communities of color—are going to feel the impacts of the pandemic for decades to come,” said CDP vice president Regine A. Webster. “We need to keep the momentum in ensuring that frontline organizations have the financial resources to address immediate needs and root causes to help all community members thrive.”

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