Report finds Scottish foundations hold £4bn
First sector-wide study says poorly designed payout rule could reduce charitable giving by £215m
Scottish grantmaking foundations — charities that mainly give money away rather than run services — hold nearly £4 billion in assets, according to the first comprehensive study of these organisations.
The researchers warn that applying the type of rule used in some countries, requiring foundations to spend a minimum share of their assets each year, could unintentionally reduce annual charitable giving in Scotland by up to £215 million.
The report, published by the University of St Andrews Business School’s Centre for the Study of Philanthropy and Public Good (CSPPG) and launched today at an event in St Andrews attended by foundation leaders, charity executives, policymakers, regulators and academics, identifies 315 charities that mainly distribute funds to other organisations rather than run services themselves. Together they hold £3.98 billion in net funds and distributed £601 million in their most recent financial years.
Researchers tested how Scottish foundations would perform under minimum spending rules used internationally, including in the United States, where private foundations must distribute 5% of certain assets each year. The modelling suggests importing a similar rule without careful design could backfire, as some foundations already give well above 5%. A universal threshold could therefore encourage higher spenders to cut back to the minimum.
The findings come as the Scottish Government looks to the third sector to play a larger role in tackling child poverty and delivering services amid tight public finances.
The report groups foundations into three types: 199 investor foundations, 96 income-based foundations, and 20 lottery distributors. Investor foundations hold most of the wealth, controlling £3.67 billion, including £3.05 billion invested in publicly listed securities, and distributed about £249 million in grants in their most recent financial years.
Giving levels vary widely. While total spending across the sector exceeds 5% of assets, the report identifies a large cluster of smaller foundations distributing less than 1% of their assets in some years, while others give far more.
Foundation wealth is also geographically concentrated. Foundations based in Glasgow hold about £1.34 billion, while those in Edinburgh hold about £1.12 billion, meaning more than half of Scotland’s foundation wealth sits in the two cities. Six council areas have no grantmaking foundations at all.
The report also highlights significant gaps in public data. Regulator records do not include full balance sheet information or consistent reporting on grant recipients, and only about 21% of grantmaking by value can currently be traced through open grant databases.
Dr Christopher Dougherty, the project’s lead researcher, said:
“We now have a clearer picture of the scale of foundation wealth in Scotland, but we still lack reliable data on restrictions, investments and grant recipients. Without that, it is very difficult to design evidence-based policy.”
Professor Tobias Jung, Director of the Centre for the Study of Philanthropy and Public Good at the University of St Andrews Business School, said:
“Foundations clearly play an important role in Scotland’s civic life, but discussions about their responsibilities need to be informed by reliable data rather than assumptions.”
The report calls for improved transparency around foundation finances and grantmaking before considering regulatory changes.
To read the full report, please visit: https://zenodo.org/records/18802540
Dougherty, C. N., & Jung, T. (2026). Scotland’s Foundations: Wealth, Grantmaking, and the Public Good. In Public Good Report Series, Report No. 1. The Centre for the Study of Philanthropy & Public Good. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18802540
Discover more from Centre for the Study of Philanthropy & Public Good
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.