By the Numbers
2021 Financial Information
Throughout 2021 we confronted the Covid epidemic. Every aspect of our lives changed, work, school and recreation. All our plans were put on hold, and just as our personal lives were upended, our economy was affected as businesses closed and nearly everything was in short supply. The financial markets reacted to the large injection of emergency funds that the country received with growth in the stock markets while the bond markets, sensing rising interest rates did not keep pace.
Despite the uncertainty that we faced, our community continued to support charitable needs. New funds were created and grants were made at record levels. The Community Foundation reached new highs in nearly every measure. We are happy to report these results to you in this report of the year 2021, Great Success in a Hard Time.
Earle Wootton
Chairman of The Community Foundation
NUMBER OF FUNDS
The number of the funds increased to 322, an increase of 23 funds in 2021. The average balance in a fund is $68,241.47 up from $28,195.94 10 years ago. Both the number of funds and the size of the average fund have increased each year.
INVESTMENT RETURN
The return on our investments was 9.56% which was sharply lower than the previous two years. The return on domestic equities was as strong as in previous years, but international equities provided a meager return. Fixed income bond funds which comprise 40% of our portfolio had a negative return. Our 2021 investment return was about the same as our ten-year average. If our investment return is averaged over the last three years, we earned 17.62% per year which includes all investment expense.
TOTAL REVENUE
The revenue in 2021 was $8,835,524. This surpassed 2020 by more than 8.5% and is the largest amount of revenue ever achieved. This level of income was comprised of $6,548,545 of contributions and $2,286,979 in investment returns. The 31% increase in contributions was exceptional, especially considering the difficult economic environment.
TOTAL ASSETS
The total assets grew by $4,272,003 reaching $27,763,068. This is a record amount of asset growth. The growth was possible because of the strong increase in donor contributions. 2021 was the third year in a row that our annual asset growth exceeded $4 million.
NUMBER OF GRANTS
2,782 grants were made in 2021, an increase of 287 over 2020. Some of our funds make grants that equal the amount of their total donation to the Foundation. These funds tend to make multiple grants in the form of scholarships and support for educational institutions.
TOTAL VALUE OF GRANTS
The grants that were made in 2021 had a combined value of $3,924,430. This is about $500,000 more than last year. The average size of an individual grant was $1,410, a slight increase over last year. About 44% of the annual revenue is distributed as grants. The remainder is retained to increase the value of the funds which will increase future grants.
ENDOWMENT ASSETS
The combined value of our endowments was $21,973,753. The increase of $4,664,430 or 27% is the result of new fund creation, contributions to existing funds and investment income. These endowments create annual grants which support the charities in our area according to the donors’ recommendations.
OPERATING EXPENSE RATIO
The Operating Expenses as a percentage of Total Revenue was 7.44%. This percentage is slightly greater than last year, but is well below the operating expense ratio of most charities. For each dollar the Foundation spends, over $15.00 is received in revenue. The expense that is charged to our endowments is 1% of the amount of their principal.