If you live in a rural community in America, there is little chance you will get funding from major private foundations.

A recent report from the US Department of Agriculture titled “Rural America’s Philanthropic Sector: Grant-making and the Role of Philanthropy in Rural Communities,” rural-based philanthropic organizations issued just $3.5 billion in grant dollars, only 3% of the total funding issued by grant making organizations between 2014 and 2021.

The big lag is evident when we see just 6,300 philanthropic organizations giving in rural communities compared to the 75,000 grant making organizations nationwide.

Private foundations are missing in rural America. Rural communities get little to no attention from senior leaders and program officers at large private foundations.

The USDA report analyzed data that private foundations and public charities filed through Form 990s with the IRS between 2014 and 2021. They reviewed data from 84,161 unique tax exempt grant making organizations. On average, the report stated that “there were 75,242 grant making organizations active in any given year from 2014 to 2021, collectively issuing an average annual total of about $116 billion in grants, or about $1.5 million per organization.”

Interestingly, 9 states dominate grant making in the US with New York leading followed by California and Texas in the top 3 spots. The rest are Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Michigan.

Money flows from urban private-based foundations to urban grant recipients.

Giving in the rural sector is too concentrated even in rural areas with half of all rural-based grant making organizations in just 13 states. They rank mental health and crisis intervention as the top 2 issues they need funding.

It’s time large, private foundations took a look at rural communities needing philanthropic support.