Private Foundation Payout Ratio, Median (U.S., Annual)

## What this measures

The median of each foundation's qualifying distributions divided by its net value of noncharitable-use assets, over non-operating foundations with at least $1 million of such assets. 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

The median shows what a typical foundation pays out, which the aggregate hides behind the largest endowments.

## How to read it

The series starts in tax year 2020 at 5.1%. The latest reading, for tax year 2024, is 5.0%. The high is 5.5% (tax year 2022) and the low 5.0% (tax year 2024).

## What it does not say

Carry-overs and the correction period mean one year's ratio is not a compliance test; small foundations below $1 million are left out.

## 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.