PKF O'Connor Davies and FoundationMark Host Private Foundations Event on Growth, Investment Trends and Operational Performance

Data unveiled at the event shows U.S. private foundation assets grew from approximately $653 billion to nearly $1.8 trillion between 2010 and 2025, while annual giving increased from $42 billion to $118 billion.

NEW YORK, June 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- PKF O'Connor Davies, one of the nation's leading accounting, tax and advisory practices, recently hosted a private foundations event in collaboration with FoundationMark titled "The Data Behind the Dollars: Measuring What Matters to Foundations." The event examined the continued growth of U.S. private foundations, the role of investment performance in driving giving capacity and key strategic considerations shaping the sector.

"Based on current market levels, FoundationMark forecasts that giving growth will surpass 7% in 2026, resulting in a record year for giving over $126 billion," said John Seitz, Chief Executive Officer of FoundationMark.

Key takeaways from the event included:

• Private foundations continue to grow in scale and impact. The sector's sustained asset and giving growth reinforces the expanding role of private foundations in supporting charitable initiatives.
  
  
• Investment returns are the primary driver of foundation growth. Since 2015, foundations generated more than $1.2 trillion in investment gains, compared to approximately $718 billion in new contributions, underscoring the importance of investment oversight and benchmarking.
  
  
• Private equity is playing a smaller role in large foundation portfolios. Among foundations with more than $500 million in assets, allocations to private equity and other alternative investments declined from 53% in 2021 to 45% in 2024, while publicly traded marketable securities increased. In addition, investment returns pertaining to private equity mirrored investment returns in publicly traded equity.
  
  
• Sunsetting remains a key strategic consideration. Roughly 3,000 to 4,000 foundations close each year making liquidity, staffing and grant making important considerations. However, many private foundations that initially plan to sunset ultimately continue their operations.
  
  
• Program-Related Investments and Donor-Advised Funds remain underutilized. Despite growing interest, only about 600 foundations reported using Program-Related Investments and fewer than 2% reported using Donor-Advised Funds.
  
  
• Governance and regulatory scrutiny are increasing. As policymakers continue to examine nonprofit transparency and reporting requirements, foundations should prioritize strong governance, documentation and compliance practices.

"This event brought together timely data and practical perspective on the issues private foundations are navigating today," said Thomas Blaney, Private Foundations Practice Leader at PKF O'Connor Davies. "As foundations grow in size and complexity, investment performance, governance, compliance and long-term planning are increasingly important to sustaining charitable impact."

To explore FoundationMark's benchmarking insights, peer group analyses and foundation performance data, visit https://foundationmark.com/.

About PKF O'Connor Davies

PKF O'Connor Davies is a top-tier accounting, tax and advisory practice and member of PKF Global, a global network of accountancy firms. We have a long history of serving domestic and international clients. PKF O'Connor Davies has a separate division within its not-for-profit practice providing accounting, tax and advisory services to over 700 private foundations. "PKF O'Connor Davies" is the brand name under which PKF O'Connor Davies LLP and PKF O'Connor Davies Advisory LLC, independently owned entities, provide professional services in an alternative practice structure in accordance with applicable professional standards. PKF O'Connor Davies LLP is a licensed CPA firm that provides attest services and PKF O'Connor Davies Advisory LLC and its subsidiary entities provide tax and advisory services. For more information, please visit pkfod.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

About FoundationMark

FoundationMark tracks the investment performance of the private foundation universe and has created the most comprehensive performance benchmarks available. Investment returns have a direct, meaningful and measurable effect on a foundation's ability to support important causes. FoundationMark believes that providing independent, objective and transparent performance metrics can help foundations make better informed investment decisions.

SOURCE PKF O’Connor Davies