A List Of The Wealthiest Charitable Foundations And Their Area Of Focus

Private foundations have long been supporting the funding of philanthropic institutions all across the globe.  In 2013, their power began being felt even more as, for the first time, private foundations have outdistanced a lot of governments and support groups as the most generous donors to non-profit sectors.

Now, these foundations are still thriving with ambition and determination as they expand their reach beyond their established markets into the developing world. With that in mind, here are some of the wealthiest foundations which are listed according to their net assets.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The foundation is said to have $40 billion worth of assets, with the figure taken from the reports derived from Microsoft and diversified investments. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s first area of focus is to uplift the world’s poorest people from poverty and hunger.

The second area that the foundation focuses on is to fund different science and technology projects aiming to save the lives of people who reside in developing countries. They also want to improve the condition of U.S. high schools and to support vulnerable families living in Washington.

The Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation’s value is recorded at $12.14 billion. It was built in 1936 by Henry Ford and his son Edsel of Ford Motors. The main motto of the organization is to promote human welfare. In 1969, the organization donated around $1 million to the children television workshop to make a new program that is now popular worldwide. We’re talking about Sesame Street.

J. Paul Getty Trust

J. Paul Getty is known to be the first person to discover oil in Saudi Arabia. He has this image of being cheap despite once being dubbed by the Guinness Book of Records as the wealthiest private citizen on earth. Getty was also the first person to reach the $1-billion milestone in the form of net assets. In 1953, he founded the J. Paul Getty Trust, which is the wealthiest art institution in the world.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

This foundation was established in the year 1972 by Robert Wood Johnson, whose father was the one who co-founded the Johnson & Johnson. The organization is known to be the most prominent, with a total value of $9.5 billion. It operates in the United States, and its main and sole focus is to make American lives better.

They mostly have their eyes set on health care and has donated almost $400 million in grants to numerous healthcare institutions. All that money was used to research childhood obesity, poverty, and to polish the skills of nurses and doctors.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Famous for supporting educational as well as cultural institutes, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has $8.6 billion in net assets. Every year the foundation gives away almost $300 million in the form of grants. Most grants are actually under $1 million, but the foundation often donates substantial gifts to UC Berkeley, Stanford University as well as the Climate Works Foundation.