Two years ago the Rasmuson Foundation awarded $200,000 to a Homer senior citizens group to help it build a nine-unit "independent senior housing" complex.

That same year it awarded $500,000 to a Bethel hospital to purchase a new CT scanner. And $700,000 to the City of Juneau to turn the Eaglecrest Ski Area into a year-round community recreation site.

In all that year, the Rasmuson Foundation -- Alaska's largest private philanthropic organization -- awarded 42 "large grants" (worth $25,000 or more) to Alaska nonprofits. This year, however, it plans to award none.

That was the bad news that Rasmuson President Diane Kaplan shared with a large gathering of nonprofit representatives who assembled inside UAA's Wendy Williamson Auditorium on Friday.

The good news:

The number of small-grant awards -- $25,000 or less -- will remain about the same as last year (though the average amount of the grants will fall by a third). And money for struggling artists will continue undiminished.

"We think individual artists have very few other places to go for funding," Kaplan said.

Altogether the new math reflects the cold hard fact that the Rasmuson trust fund lost more than a third of its market value last year, largely due to the stock market collapse. Its $600 million in assets at the close of 2007 tumbled to an estimated $380 million by the end of 2008, Kaplan said.

As with other philanthropic trust funds nationwide, Rasmuson is structurally bound to reduce its level of giving -- which is calculated each year on a percentage of its average market value.

Most national foundations will be giving 25 to 30 percent less this year, Kaplan said. Rasmuson only expects to reduce its overall grant payouts by 14 percent -- from $22 million in 2008 to $19 million.

Oil giant Conoco Phillips, by comparison, announced last month that it plans to reduce its charitable contributions in Alaska by about 30 percent -- from $13 million in 2008 to $9 million.

Sketching the landscape of the upcoming year of the Rasmuson Foundation's grants to individuals and nonprofit groups, Kaplan noted:

• Small "Tier I" capital grants will fall from an average of $22,000 to $15,000. But the total number of small grants awarded should remain about the same. (The foundation awarded 68 small capital grants in 2007.)

• Large "Tier II" capital grants most likely will not be awarded, though there will be payouts on multiple-year grants previously awarded.

• About $1.5 million in grants will be awarded to the arts community, consistent with the foundation's long-term goal of providing Alaska artists about $20 million over 10 years.

• Contributions to Alaska museums for new acquisitions will likely fall from $215,000 in 2008 to $165,000.

While most foundations and corporate providers are cutting back on grants in aid, Kaplan said, the level of giving in Alaska still far exceeds the old days. Rasmuson, Conoco Phillips and BP combined awarded about $5 million in grants 10 years ago, she said. This year, even with the cutbacks, the three combined will hand out about $36 million.