Foundation's Assets Grow $9.7M in 2007 | Grants and scholarships total $4.5M
âOverall, we're doing very well,â said Linda Chadwick, the foundation's director of marketing and donor services.
Market Watch
The foundation added $9.7 million to its net assets last year, bringing them to an all-time high of $122.9 million. The increase was less than the $12.6 million it added in 2006, when its investments did significantly better.
âWe're in an economic downturn,â Chadwick said. âUnfortunately, the stock market has not done as well as we would like.â
Still, she said, the foundation tends to be conservative in its investments, so it doesn't expect to take a huge hit even if the economy continues to go downhill.
Whatever slowdown there has been hasn't hurt net donations to the foundation, which stayed about the same, around $5.1 million, in 2006 and 2007. On paper, the 2006 donations look higher, but Chadwick said that's only because of a $2 million endowment for the Rural Cemetery Fund that was set up that year. The extra funds makes the total donations number for 2006 look significantly bigger than 2007's, but because the gift was an âagency endowment,â it doesn't figure in the foundation's bottom line, she said.
The difference in grants and scholarships awarded in the two years ($4.5 million last year versus $5.5 in 2006) also reflects an accounting issue, Chadwick said. Generally, the foundation distributes a fairly constant 4.5 percent of its total endowment each year, but in 2006 it distributed several multi-year grants, which show up as liabilities for the year.
The Greater Worcester Community Foundation was founded in 1975. Its mission is focused on four areas: working with donors on tailored giving programs, investing in local nonprofits organization through grants and technical support, bringing people and organizations with shared goals together to solve problems and safeguarding the assets in its trust.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
0 Comments