Grantee Demographics - Heising-Simons Foundation

The Heising-Simons Foundation commissioned The Center for Effective Philanthropy to conduct a grantee demographic survey in October 2021. This survey was anonymous and voluntary, and received a 67% response rate from 605 grantees across the Foundation’s five program areas.

The purpose of the survey was to get an understanding of the aggregate demographics of the leadership of the organizations and projects we support, as part of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Individual responses are confidential, and the Foundation only sees aggregate data.

We asked non-university grantees about the demographics of their boards, head(s) of organizations, and senior staff. We asked university grantees about the demographics of their project lead(s) and other project team members.

Findings across the Foundation’s programs include the following:

Findings for Average Non-University Grantees

Findings for Average University Grantees

Due to rounding, the total percentages may add up to slightly above or below 100 percent. Hover over each pie chart to see the data.

Non-University Grantee: Board

White (35%)

Black or African American (25%)

Hispanic or Latina, Latino, or Latinx (16%)

Asian or Asian American (10%)

Individuals for whom grantee does not have self-reported data (9%)

American Indian, Alaska Native, or Indigenous (2%)

Multiracial or Multiethnic (1%)

Middle Eastern or North African (1%)

Individuals reporting two or more races and ethnicities (1%)

Individuals reporting another race, ethnicity, or origin not on this list (1%)

Non-University Grantee: Head(s) of Organization

White (40%)

Black or African American (24%)

Hispanic or Latina, Latino, or Latinx (15%)

Asian or Asian American (12%)

American Indian, Alaska Native, or Indigenous (3%)

Individuals for whom grantee does not have self-reported data (3%)

Multiracial or Multiethnic (2%)

Middle Eastern or North African (1%)

Individuals reporting two or more races and ethnicities (1%)

Individuals reporting another race, ethnicity, or origin not on this list (1%)

Non-University Grantee: Senior Staff

White (41%)

Black or African American (20%)

Hispanic or Latina, Latino, or Latinx (19%)

Asian or Asian American (10%)

Individuals for whom grantee does not have self-reported data (4%)

American Indian, Alaska Native, or Indigenous (3%)

Multiracial or Multiethnic (2%)

Middle Eastern or North African (1%)

Individuals reporting another race, ethnicity, or origin not on this list (1%)

Individuals reporting two or more races and ethnicities (1%)

University Grantee: Project Lead(s)

White (72%)

Asian or Asian American (10%)

Hispanic or Latina, Latino, or Latinx (6%)

Black or African American (4%)

Individuals for whom grantee does not have self-reported data (4%)

Middle Eastern or North African (2%)

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (1%)

Individuals reporting two or more races and ethnicities (1%)

Individuals reporting that they prefer not to provide this information (1%)

University Grantee: Project Team Members

White (56%)

Asian or Asian American (15%)

Black or African American (9%)

Individuals for whom grantee does not have self-reported data (9%)

Hispanic or Latina, Latino, or Latinx (7%)

Multiracial and/or Multi-ethnic (2%)

Middle Eastern or North African (1%)

American Indian, Alaska Native, or Indigenous (1%)