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Benchmark report · 2026
The State of
Grantmaking 2026
Budgets are flat in real terms, demand for grants is rising, and EU rules now ask for outcomes rather than activity. In 2026, efficiency and evidence decide which programs lead. Benchmark yours against the verified numbers.
Published September 2026 · 36 verified sources · ~20-minute read
Corporate giving · 2025
$43.67bn
+0.5% after inflation
+60% over 5 years
European foundations
175,000
€76bn spent every year
34 countries
AI in the grants core
8%
use AI on applications in their grants system
81% use some AI
Data from
Giving USA
|
CECP
|
Philea
|
GEO
|
TAG
|
CEP
|
Candid
|
360Giving
|
GrantStation
|
European Commission
|
EFRAG
TL;DR
Key findings
1
Record on paper, flat in reality
US corporate giving reached $43.67 billion in 2025 but grew just 0.5% after inflation, the slowest of any giving source.1 52% of large companies actually gave less than the year before.3
2
Europe is bigger than you think
~175,000 public-benefit foundations across 34 countries, €516 billion in assets, €76 billion spent every year.5
3
Speed is a benchmark now
For 57.5% of grantees, the decision on their largest 2024 grant took one to six months; 31% of winners then waited over three months to be paid.11
4
The 14:1 technology squeeze
52% of foundations spend only 1-5% of their operating budget on technology, and the staff-to-IT ratio worsened from 12:1 to 14:1 between 2022 and 2024.13
5
AI: wide but shallow
81% of foundations report some AI use, yet only 4% use it organization-wide, 8% apply it to applications in their grants system, and 1% use it in screening.13,19
6
The unrestricted era
The median share of grant budgets going to general operating support jumped to 38% in 2025 after two decades near 20%.15
7
CSRD narrowed, not gone
The 2026 Omnibus limits CSRD to companies with more than 1,000 employees and €450M+ turnover, and ESRS S3 still asks in-scope companies for community-investment outcomes, not activity counts.22,26
8
Demand pressure is rising
57% of nonprofit CEOs say foundation grants have been harder to secure since January 2025,36 which suggests more applications per program, not fewer.
Chapter 1
The giving landscape in 2026
Two numbers set the scene for 2026. In the United States, charitable giving passed $600 billion for the first time, yet corporate giving barely grew in real terms.1 In Europe, roughly 175,000 public-benefit foundations spend €76 billion a year, and the sector keeps growing.5 This chapter takes each market in turn.
€76bn
annual European foundation expenditure
175k
public-benefit foundations in Europe
€516bn
combined European foundation assets
77%
of large companies have a corporate foundation or trust
United States: record totals, flat corporate budgets
Total US charitable giving passed the $600 billion mark for the first time in 2025, reaching $617.20 billion, up 5.7% in current dollars and 3.0% after inflation.1 Foundations gave $117.15 billion of that (roughly 19% of the total) and grew at the same pace as total giving.1
Corporate giving tells a different story. It reached a record $43.67 billion, but grew only 3.1% in current dollars, or 0.5% in real terms, the weakest growth of any giving source.1 CECP's matched-set data shows why the averages mislead: median Total Community Investment among 139 large companies rose from $21.9 million to $23.5 million in 2025, yet 52% of those same companies decreased their giving. The growth came from the top quartile scaling up while the majority cut back.3,4 Corporations dedicated a median 0.39% of pre-tax profit to charitable contributions in 2025, well below the new 1% floor for corporate charitable deductions enacted in US tax law in July 2025.4
Europe: a growing, concentrated sector
Europe counts approximately 175,000 public-benefit foundations across 34 countries, holding €516 billion in assets and spending €76 billion a year. Annual expenditure is up sharply from the €55 billion reported in the previous (2023, 26-country) edition of Philea's dataset.5
DE
Germany
895 new legal foundations created in 2025, 436 of them charitable (the most since 2021), bringing the total to 27,082 (+2.8% year on year).7
FR
France
6,040 foundations and endowment funds active in 2025 (+59% in ten years), contributing €18.4 billion to public-interest activities. 449 corporate foundations counted in 2024.8,9
UK
United Kingdom
A record £8.24 billion in foundation grants in 2023-24 (+12% nominal, over 6% real); the 50 largest corporate foundations grew grants 30% to £873.8 million.10
Takeaway: budgets are flat where you compete (corporate) and growing where you benchmark (foundations). In 2026, standing still on efficiency means falling behind programs that are professionalizing fast. The rest of this report measures that professionalization (speed, cost, AI readiness and outcome reporting) and ends with a scorecard to rate your own program against it.
Chapter 2
Operations benchmarks: volume, speed, cost
Chapter 1 covered the conditions you cannot control. This chapter covers the ones you can. With budgets flat and teams shrinking, cycle time, applicant effort and process cost are where programs now separate, and every one of them is measurable. The benchmarks below come from grantee-side and funder-side surveys, so you can see both ends of the same process.
How long things take
Selectivity: two very different funnels
Application funnels vary enormously by funder type. Organizations that submitted just one grant application in 2024 still had a 67.4% chance of winning an award, and those submitting six or more won at rates above 95%. Most grantseekers who apply widely win at least one award.11 At the other extreme, Horizon Europe funded only the top 16% of applications in its first three years, and nearly 7 in 10 high-quality proposals went unfunded for lack of budget. The European Commission estimates funding them all would have taken roughly €82 billion more.16 The median largest award from corporate foundations was $25,000 in 2024, versus $55,000 across all non-government funders.11
What programs spend on themselves
The squeeze is structural: large companies cut median management and program costs for community investment by 22% over three years,2 while US grantmaker salaries rose a median 4.6% in 2025 and 57% of organizations reported staff departures.14 Fewer people, thinner tech budgets, growing volume: the arithmetic only works with better process. The pandemic-era simplifications largely stuck: in 2024, 67% of grantmakers were still streamlining applications, 56% still streamlining reporting, and 72% using paperless payments.13 But funding practice hasn't caught up everywhere: 80% of grantmakers require grantees to conduct evaluations at least sometimes, while 38% provide no additional funding for them.15
Optimy customer
Veolia Environmental Trust handles 200+ applications a year with a team of six. Since moving to Optimy, outcome letters that once took weeks now go out in hours, and the Trust has awarded over £106 million across 2,600+ projects.
Takeaway: a competitive 2026 program decides in under three months, pays in under one, asks ≤15 hours of effort per proposal, and funds what it requires (evaluation included).
Chapter 3
Technology and AI: wide adoption, shallow use
Chapter 2 ended on an arithmetic problem (fewer people, thinner tech budgets, growing volume), and AI is where the sector looks first for the answer. It reached grantmaking fast, on the surface. 81% of foundations report some degree of AI use, but only 4% use it across the whole organization, and in 64% of foundations it's "just a few people".13 CEP's 2025 survey confirms the pattern: almost two-thirds of foundations use AI, overwhelmingly for internal productivity (78% of users) and communications (70%), and 94% of foundation leaders express at least some interest in increasing AI use.17
Rare where it matters most: the grants core
Use in the grantmaking core remains rare. Only 8% of grantmakers use AI to classify, code or summarize applications inside their grants system, or to run landscape analysis,13 and just 1% of foundations use generative AI to screen applicants or support funding decisions, though with 3% planning and 19% considering it, nearly a quarter have not ruled it out.19 Governance lags even further: only 30% of foundations have an AI policy, 63% have neither a policy nor an advisory committee,13 and 98% have no policy on whether grantees may use AI.17
Applicants are moving faster than reviewers
The result is the asymmetry that defines 2026: applicants are adopting AI faster than the funders who review their work. 24.6% of nonprofits already use AI to streamline grant writing;20 in the UK, 79% of charities use AI tools (92% of larger ones) and 45% use AI for grant fundraising.21 Yet only 10% of funders accepted or planned to accept AI-written applications, 23% said they did not, and 67% were undecided; 57% didn't know whether they had already received one.18
Takeaway: your applicants are adopting AI faster than your review process is. The 2026 gap to close isn't "should we use AI": it's an AI policy (70% of foundations still lack one) and a deliberate decision about AI-written applications (67% of funders are undecided).
Chapter 4
Regulation: what CSRD now asks of community investment
If efficiency is the internal pressure on grant programs, regulation is the external one, and it now pushes in the same direction: outcomes, not activity. Two years of EU simplification changed who reports, not what good reporting looks like. The timeline that matters:
For companies still in scope, community investment is explicitly on the map: ESRS S3 (Affected Communities) covers actions "with the primary purpose of delivering positive impacts for affected communities", invites disclosure of whether communities help design the programs, and, critically, requires evidence of actual outcomes to be distinguished from evidence that activities merely took place.26 Listing activities is no longer enough; reporting outcomes is.
FR
France
Corporate philanthropy reached ~€3.8 billion in 2023 from 170,000+ donor companies (1.8× the 2018 count).28 The 60%/40% tax reduction is unchanged; from January 2027 the €10,000+ donation declaration moves into the annual management report.29
UK
United Kingdom
Grant-making charities awarded £17.84 billion in 2024; in June 2026 the Charity Commission published refreshed grant-making guidance on due diligence, monitoring, unrestricted grants and funding non-charities.30
DE
Germany
The first central foundation register (Stiftungsregister) is postponed from 2026 to 1 January 2028; registration then becomes mandatory for all legally capable civil-law foundations.32
Takeaway: fewer companies must report, but those that do must show outcomes, not activity. If your community-investment data lives in spreadsheets and inboxes, ESRS S3's "achieved outcomes" bar makes FY2027 the deadline to fix it.
Chapter 5
How grantmaking practice is changing
For nearly two decades, the median share of grant budgets going to general operating support sat near 20%. In 2025 it reached 38%, the clearest single signal of how fast funding practice is moving. GEO's 2025 study of 765 staffed foundations documents the shift across the board: 87% of grantmakers now provide multiyear funding (79% in 2017), and 77% offer at least some unrestricted funding. 42% practice participatory grantmaking, and 96% evaluate their own work (77% in 2017), though only 62% fund the evaluations they require of grantees.15 74% say diversity, equity and inclusion is central to strategy, up from 45% in 2017.15
Trust, collaboration, and pressure from both sides
Trust-based philanthropy has moved from label to default in much of the sector: six in ten of the 573 grantmakers surveyed report embracing trust-based practices.33 Collaboration is scaling too: philanthropic collaboratives deploy $4-7 billion a year globally and report they could absorb three to five times that if fundraising allowed; the 33 largest account for 68% of the funding.34
And 2025-26 stress is visible on both sides: 42% of US foundations report providing a larger number of unrestricted grants than before 2025, with a further 17% considering it,35 while 57% of nonprofit CEOs say foundation grants have become harder to secure since January 2025, and 44% saw foundation funding fall.36
Takeaway: flexible, multiyear, outcome-focused funding is the 2026 mainstream. Programs still running annual, restricted, activity-reported grants are now visibly behind their peers.
Chapter 6
Benchmark yourself
Nine dimensions, one question: is your program faster, lighter and better evidenced than the sector you have just read about? Every row cites data from the chapters above. Score one point per row where you match or beat the benchmark.
7-9: you are the benchmark: publish your numbers, so grantees and peers can see them.
4-6: solid core; close the two cheapest gaps first. Payment speed is a workflow change, not a budget change, and evaluation funding is a line item, not a redesign.
0-3: start with cycle time. It is the gap grantees feel most and the one process changes fix fastest. Then write the AI policy: it costs a document, and 70% of foundations still lack one.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did corporations give to charity in 2025?
How large is the European foundation sector in 2026?
How long does a typical grant decision take?
How many grantmakers use AI in 2026?
Does CSRD still require reporting on community investment?
What share of grant funding is unrestricted in 2026?
From benchmark to action, with Optimy
One platform for application intake, eligibility screening, jury scoring and impact reporting, used by foundations, corporates and nonprofits to decide faster and report outcomes, not activity.
Methodology & sources
Every statistic in this report was collected from the source named below and independently re-verified in August 2026, ahead of publication. Data years are stated where they differ from publication years. Figures are reported as published; no estimates or interpolations were made. Where a survey covers one geography (e.g. US-only), the text says so. Charts are drawn from the cited figures only.
- Giving USA Foundation / IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Giving USA 2026 (2025 data) · givingusa.org/giving-usa-charitable-giving-rose-to-617-20-billion-in-2025-surpassing-the-600-billion-mark-for-the-first-time/
- CECP, Giving in Numbers: 2025 Edition (FY2024 data, 189 companies) · 3blmedia.com/news/giving-numberstm-2025-edition-companies-aligning-business-practices-purpose-report-25-higher
- CECP, Giving in Numbers: 2026 Edition press release (2025 data, matched set of 139 companies) · 3blmedia.com/news/giving-numbersr-2026-edition-data-reveals-stark-divide-corporate-giving
- Candid, "What CECP data tell us about corporate social investments" (CECP 2026 edition data) · candid.org/blogs/corporate-social-investments-cecp-data/
- Philea, The Fabric of Giving (2025; latest available national data, 34 countries) · philea.eu/insights/publications/the-fabric-of-giving-2025-public-benefit-foundation-data-in-europe/
- European Fundraising Association summary of Philea country data (2025) · efa-net.eu/news/germany-has-most-foundations-in-europe-with-spain-top-for-expenditure/
- Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen, new-foundations 2025 press release · stiftungen.org/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/mitteilung/895-stiftungsneugruendungen-in-deutschland-2025-forderungen-zur-modernisierung-des-gemeinnuetzigkeitsrechts-16132.html
- Fondation de France, Baromètre de la philanthropie 2026 (2025 data; via Carenews) · carenews.com/carenews-info/news/6040-fondations-et-fonds-de-dotation-en-activite-en-france-en-2025
- Fondation de France, Baromètre de la philanthropie 2025 (2024 structure counts) · fondationdefrance.org/images/pdf/2025/FDF_BAROMETRE_2025-4.pdf
- 360Giving / ACF and partners, UKGrantmaking 2025 (FY2023-24 data) · ukgrantmaking.org/2025/trusts-and-foundations/
- GrantStation, The 2025 State of Grantseeking Report, Key Findings (2024 data) · grantstation.com/sites/default/files/imageLibrary/SoG/2025/2025 State of Grantseeking Report Key Findings.pdf
- Center for Effective Philanthropy, Before and After 2020 (2021-22 vs pre-2020; published 2023) · cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Before_and_After_2020.pdf
- Technology Association of Grantmakers, 2024 State of Philanthropy Tech Survey (355 organizations, NA/EU/UK) · tagtech.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-PhilTechSurvey-Final.pdf
- Council on Foundations, 2025 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Report, Key Findings · cof.org/content/2025-grantmaker-salary-and-benefits-report-key-findings
- Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, 2025 National Study of Philanthropic Practice (765 US staffed foundations) · grantmakingstudy2025.geofunders.org + geofunders.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-National-Study-of-Philanthropic-Practice-Full-Report.pdf
- European Commission, Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe, COM(2025) 189 (2021-24 programme data) · research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/document/download/1a80e2e1-df28-4f1a-8a52-a0e1b47a1860_en
- Center for Effective Philanthropy, AI With Purpose (215 foundation + 451 nonprofit leaders, 2025) · cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/CEP_AI_Layout_FINAL.pdf
- Candid, 2024 Foundation Giving Forecast Survey, AI-generated proposals (527 foundations) · candid.org/blogs/funders-insights-on-ai-generated-grant-application-proposals/
- Candid, 2025 Foundation Giving Forecast Survey, AI screening (N=529) · candid.org/blogs/will-foundations-soon-use-ai-to-screen-grant-applications/
- TechSoup / Tapp Network, The State of AI in Nonprofits: 2025 (1,321 participants, surveyed 2024) · pages.techsoup.org/hubfs/Downloads/The State of AI in Nonprofits 2025.pdf
- Zoe Amar Digital / Think Social Tech, Charity Digital Skills Report 2026 (807 UK charities) · charitydigitalskills.co.uk/report/detailed-findings/artificial-intelligence/
- Norton Rose Fulbright, Omnibus I · Directive (EU) 2026/470 analysis · regulationtomorrow.com/2026/02/omnibus-i-csrd-and-cs3d-simplification-council-of-european-union-adopts-final-text-t-simplify-sustainability-reporting-and-due-diligence-requirements/
- ESG Today, EU final approval of the Omnibus package (Feb 2026) · esgtoday.com/eu-states-give-final-approval-to-omnibus-package-to-cut-sustainability-reporting-and-due-diligence-requirements/
- Sidley Austin, "Stop-the-clock" Directive (EU) 2025/794 briefing · sidley.com/en/insights/newsupdates/2025/04/eu-omnibus-package-eu-adopts-stop-the-clock-directive-and-begins-esrs-simplification-process
- EFRAG, technical advice on amended ESRS delivered to the European Commission (Dec 2025) · efrag.org/en/news-and-calendar/news/efrag-provides-its-technical-advice-on-draft-simplified-esrs-to-the-european-commission
- Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772, ESRS S3 Affected Communities (paras 32(c), AR 34, AR 36) · esrs-nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung.de/en/esrs/social/esrs-s3
- PwC Viewpoint, Commission Recommendation C(2025) 4984 on the VSME standard · viewpoint.pwc.com/us/en/pwc/in-briefs/ib_int202520.html
- Admical, Baromètre du mécénat d'entreprise 2024 (2023 tax data) · admical.org/contenu/barometre-du-mecenat-dentreprise-2024
- Bpifrance Création, mécénat d'entreprise tax rules (incl. 2027 declaration change) · bpifrance-creation.fr/encyclopedie/fiscalite-lentreprise/fiscalite-divers/mecenat-dentreprise-reduction-dimpot
- Charity Commission for England and Wales, refreshed grant-making guidance + 2024 grant data (June 2026) · gov.uk/government/news/regulator-publishes-new-guidelines-on-grant-making-as-charity-sector-continues-tofeel-financial-squeeze
- Morrison Foerster, EU Sustainability Omnibus I · CS3D scope and timing · mofo.com/resources/insights/251222-eu-sustainability-omnibus-i-detailed-omnibus
- Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen, Stiftungsregister postponed to 2028 · stiftungen.org/aktuelles/news-aus-stiftungen/detail/wichtige-news-fuer-den-stiftungssektor-stiftungsregister-startet-erst-2028-15336.html
- Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, 2024 Grantmaker Survey (573 grantmakers) · trustbasedphilanthropy.org/tools-resources/2024-grantmaker-survey
- The Bridgespan Group, The Philanthropic Collaborative Landscape (310 collaboratives; published 2025) · bridgespan.org/insights/philanthropic-collaborative-landscape
- Center for Effective Philanthropy, Mounting Pressure (2025; 200+ foundation and 400+ nonprofit leaders) · cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mounting_Pressure_FINAL.pdf
- Center for Effective Philanthropy, State of Nonprofits 2026 (conditions since Jan 2025) · cep.org/report-backpacks/state-of-nonprofits-2026/
About Optimy
Optimy is the platform foundations, corporates and nonprofits use to run grants, sponsorships and volunteering programs from application to reporting. The organization featured in chapter 2 (Veolia Environmental Trust) is an Optimy customer; its figures come from the published Optimy customer story. optimy.com
© 2026 Optimy · You may quote this report with attribution ("Optimy, The State of Grantmaking 2026") and a link to the source page.