Highlights of the Foundation Center's 1998 Study: Health Policy Grantmaking - A Report on Foundation Trends

The following data derive from an analysis of health grants of $10,000 or more reported in various editions of The Foundation Grants Index by 671 larger foundations for 1990 and 869 foundations for 1995. Giving by these foundations represented over 50 percent of all foundation grant dollars for health. As defined by the Foundation Center's grants coding system and by the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities, health funding encompasses four principal subcategories: general and rehabilitative health, medical research, mental health promotion and the treatment of mental illness, and the prevention or treatment of specific diseases or physical disorders. While each of these subcategories includes grants for health policy, all but a few of these awards are captured in the general and rehabilitative health subcategory (see definition below).