The Foundation Center reported last month that the recent economic crisis caused the nation’s grantmaking foundations to cut their giving by about 8.4 percent in 2009. Giving dropped among the 75,000 foundations from $46.8 billion to $42.9 billion.

While a significant cutback, the drop in funding levels was not nearly as steep as the drop in asset values in the foundations. The same study showed that foundations suffered a 17 percent loss in assets recorded from the previous year.

The study, Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates, available at http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/fgge10.pdf, also noted that foundation giving in 2010 is expected to remain rather flat, but there may be modest growth in 2011 if economic recovery efforts stay on track.