Share of Foundation Grant Dollars to Religion (U.S., Annual)

## What this measures

Of the grant dollars private foundations list on Form 990-PF (Part XV) that Palanor could place in a theme, the share in religion. A grant's theme comes from its stated purpose, else the recipient's IRS activity code (NTEE) when it matches a registered exempt organization, else the recipient's name; a recipient abroad counts as international. The rules were set before any total was computed. A tax year is the year a return's tax period begins; it is published once the IRS has posted the two following years of returns. E-filing became required for tax years from 2020, so the series starts there. Tax year 2021 is left out: the IRS's 2022 e-file release holds about two-thirds of the returns its own index lists, so roughly 30% of 2021 returns are missing from the public data. A year is published only when at least 97% of the returns the IRS index lists for it were read.

## Why it matters

Religious giving by foundations goes to congregations and faith-based charities.

## How to read it

The series starts in tax year 2020 at 2.6%. The latest reading, for tax year 2024, is 2.9%. The high is 2.9% (tax year 2024) and the low 2.6% (tax year 2020).

## What it does not say

Shares are of classified dollars; the share placed in any theme is a separate series (foundations.grants.classified_share). Grants a return lists only on an attached schedule are not counted. A grant has one theme, even when it serves several.

## Source

IRS Form 990 series e-file returns (Form 990-PF), tax years 2020 on, read and totalled by Palanor; one return per foundation per tax year, the latest filed. U.S. Government work, public domain. Source: Internal Revenue Service.