The plunge in the stock market means foundations in Baltimore and around the country will give less money to nonprofit organizations next year, forcing groups that provide everything from job training to cultural activities to scramble for other ways to pay for programs.

Assets of most local foundations and corporate givers have fallen this year by as little as 1 percent to as much as half, according to a survey under way by the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers. Twenty-nine grant-makers have responded - nearly a third of the group's membership.

Although some foundations reported that they would give the same amount in grants next year as they did this year, 58 percent said they would give less. Seventeen percent of those responding planned to trim grants by 16 percent to 45 percent.

"We haven't grappled with budgeting issues in a long time," said Betsy F. Ringel, executive director of the Blaustein Philanthropic Group, which includes seven family funds. "It's a really new set of constraints for us."

Foundations in Maryland gave about $564 million last year, about 6 percent of their combined endowments of about $9.1 billion, according to Jankowski Associates Inc., a Frederick research firm.

Nationwide, many foundations decreased their giving this year as the stock market continued the steep slide it had begun last year.

A survey of 300 foundations and corporate donors published in September found that most expect their giving to decline further next year.

Because their annual giving comes from endowment income, foundations' generosity tends to rise and fall with their investments.

For some, the cutbacks will be significant. The David and Lucille Packard Foundation - a national philanthropy in Los Altos, Calif., that supports the arts and environmental and children's causes - announced recently that it would slash grants by half and cut staff after its assets shrank from nearly $10 billion in 2000 to $4 billion today.

The cutbacks in foundation giving couldn't come at a worse time for nonprofit organizations because personal giving and government grants - which typically supply most funding - also have been stung by the economy.

In Maryland, with a projected budget deficit of $1.7 billion over the next two years, the role of foundations and corporations in fund raising looms larger.

Peter Berns, executive director of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, said new initiatives would be hurt most.

"It seems inevitable that it's going to be harder for new organizations to break into the funding stream or new projects to get funded," Berns said. "There is likely to be more emphasis on trying to preserve things that are already going on that seem to be working."

But established organizations such as GenesisJobs, a 17-year-old employment program in Remington, are feeling the pain as well.

The organization historically has raised its yearly $447,000 budget from private sources, providing prospects to employers for free and avoiding government money because it comes with strings attached that don't fit GenesisJobs' philosophy. Now, says founder and Executive Director Emily C. Thayer, those traditions are being re-examined because of the bleak foundation picture.

It appears that GenesisJobs will probably lose two large foundation grants it customarily received in the past - grants that total 8 percent of the organization's budget. Others are up in the air.

"We talked to one foundation that we have always gotten money from. They said, 'If you don't get money from us, don't worry, we still look favorably on you,' " Thayer said. "It's extremely nervous-making."

Much of the money that foundations will have available next year has been spoken for. Half of the Abell Foundation's grant budget is taken up with multiyear commitments, including grants to reform Baltimore high schools and to renovate the Hippodrome Theater. The situation is similar at the Blaustein funds.

The Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds - a group of 10 family foundations and funds - will give no new grants this year and will trim grants to routinely supported organizations by about 10 percent, said Terry M. Rubenstein, executive vice president of the funds.

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest in the country, has 30 percent of its holdings in real estate - a mix that has cushioned the $2 billion endowment from the stock market's fall, said President Bernard Siegel. Still, it has lost about $200 million in the past two years. Because the foundation usually gives out about 5 percent of its assets, giving probably will be reduced in the next year.

But Siegel said the foundation's approach to philanthropy - giving many one-time grants - means nonprofits won't see much difference in dealing with Weinberg.

Many foundations automatically give an average of 5 percent of their assets each year, a federally required minimum, on the theory that giving more could cause their endowments to eventually run out.

Some foundations and corporations, such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation - a national philanthropy based in Baltimore that focuses on helping disadvantaged children - are giving larger portions of their endowment to make up for the economic downturn.

Casey President Douglas Nelson said the foundation, which was started by the founder of United Parcel Service, will probably maintain this year's level of giving next year at $224 million. But next year, that will amount to as much as 8 percent of the foundation's assets, which are about $2.85 billion.

Nelson said Casey has not been hit as hard by the market as some other foundations have because it made some fortunate moves at times when UPS stock, which has made up much of its portfolio, was at a high level. Still, he said the foundation is viewing grants more critically.

"We are in a very disciplined environment," he said. "We are looking at every grant that's nearing its completion."

The Open Society Institute-Baltimore, a branch of billionaire George Soros' worldwide philanthropy, will spend about $7 million in the region next year. The philanthropy doesn't work from an endowment because originally Soros wanted to give away his money during his lifetime, said Diana Morris, president of the Baltimore foundation.

Soros has since decided to stretch things out - meaning that in the next few years, the budget will begin to shrink, Morris said. But in Baltimore, Soros has extended his commitment - which originally was to end this year - through 2005.

A Philadelphia-based foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, has seen its endowment drop from $4.8 billion in 2000 to $4 billion as of several months ago. But the foundation hopes to maintain this year's $150 million grant budget next year, said President Rebecca Rimel. "For us, it is about what is returning the results."

Being forced to focus on what works is a silver lining of the economic downturn, foundation officials say. In the long run, it may make their giving more effective.

Said Rubenstein, of the Meyerhoff funds, "It really makes you look at what you're doing."