ANNUAL REPORT Our Vision Transforms G reater Worcester Community Foundation serves people who are inspired to enhance the world they call home. People who create funds with the Foundation have the clear-eyed compassion to see their community as it is ; the imagination to envision how it could be ; and the desire to make it so. Few donors have extraordinary means—but each has an extraordinary impulse to improve their world. This creative impulse takes many forms. At the Foundation, each fund is an inspired act that expresses a donor’s values and vision. By creating a fund with the Foundation, you can change your world for the better in your own way. Each fund is singular; but it is backed by the benefits of scale. The Foundation pools donors’ funds and professionally invests this money to earn the highest returns. As your fund grows, it does more for your chosen causes. Every year, the Foundation distributes up to 4.5 percent of your fund as grants according to your wishes, and does so in perpetuity. This year’s grants include $250 to stock a food pantry and a Foundation investment of $250,000 to expand training of health care workers. Community knowledge guides each grant to make sure that it counts. Our grantmaking process engages people who know the community best—your neighbors and fellow donors—as well as service providers who work daily to improve lives and conditions in Greater Worcester. With a $10,000 gift or pledge, you can create your own charitable fund. Setting up a fund is simple and spares you the costs, work and risks of running a private foundation. The Foundation manages grantmaking and administration on your behalf, according to your wishes. The annual cost to you for all services, including investment fees, is just 1.8 percent* of your fund’s value. What makes giving through the Foundation so effective and efficient is the citizen-run process at its heart. Our staff works with all-volunteer board members and committees to develop policies, evaluate proposals and review the impacts of grants. This community-building process transforms the participants as well as those who benefit from our gifts. In this report, you will find a gallery of inspired donors and their funds. You may be among them. If not, we invite you to create a fund and improve life in your community in your own way. * The annual cost for a scholarship fund is two percent of the fund’s value. Exploring the Worcester Historical Museum: Generations of Worcester residents have used their minds, hearts and hands to create a community like no other. This creative spirit is also visible in the inspired giving of our donors. Our Vision Connects Letter to the Community B y commingling energies as well as funds, we create common good. Ross K. Dik, President and Ann T. Lisi, Executive Director Our founders created an organization that enables us to Although our staff is serving an ever-larger circle transform our community by working together. We pool of donors and service providers, they remain a small not only our assets but also our visions and energies. group—just eleven people. They are developing skills to We put our individual visions to work within a common, provide even better services while meeting increasingly flexible structure that enables each of us to do more than aggressive goals. And they continue to guide the we could on our own. At same time, the growth of our volunteer committees who are at the heart of our model resources—including our relationships, knowledge and of community philanthropy. funds—expands what the Foundation as a whole can do for the community. This personal, face-to-face interchange connects service providers with new opportunities for growth and support One of the ways we are doing more is by deepening and keeps donors close to the good work—and needs—of our partnerships with nonprofits. As of 2007, the nonprofits serving Worcester County. By commingling Foundation’s Negotiated General Operating Support energies as well as funds, we create common good. pilot has provided three agencies with multi-year grants Thank you for taking part. that match the scale of their ambitions. Also in 2007, the board approved grantmaking to capital campaigns, opening a new avenue for us to strengthen nonprofits. Our board and staff are also striving to do more by making efficient use of our human and financial Ann T. Lisi, Executive Director resources. We have adopted best practices that help us to manage our growth. For example, the board has developed a strong governance committee and embraced succession planning. Now, as board leadership shifts, we Ross K. Dik, Chair of the Board and President can maintain continuity while giving our new chair the May 2005 to May 2008 opportunity to have fresh impact. 2 Greater Worcester Community Foundation • 07 ANNUAL REPORT Greater Worcester Community Foundation 2007 In Review By the Numbers Total Assets as of December 31 160 Total assets $134,454,960 Gifts to new & existing funds $5,677,569 140 Investment returns 9.1% 120 Grant dollars distributed $4,666,672 100 Number of grantees 352 80 New Funds 26 Total Named Funds 403 60 Community Volunteers 473 40 20 Key Accomplishments Dollars (Millions) 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 • Awarded grants totaling $2.7 million from discretionary, field-of-interest and committee advised funds, and $2 million from agency, designated, donor advised and scholarship funds. Contributions Received 8 • Presented a total of $499,937 in scholarships to 7 340 recipients selected from 600 applicants in a review 6 process that engaged more than 150 volunteers. 5 • Grew total assets to $134.4 million with investment 4 returns of 9.1%, $5.7 million in gifts to 120 funds, 3 including 26 new funds. 2 • Launched DonorCentral, an online tool that enables 1 donors to securely access fund balances, grant activity and gift history; view and research funding Dollars (Millions) 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 opportunities; and recommend grantees. • Conducted 13 programs through the Nonprofit Support Center for 274 participants from 107 nonprofits. Grants & Scholarships Approved 7 • Held the fifth annual Insights Tour, bringing together 6 donors and service providers to explore needs of newly- arrived immigrants in the region and services to meet 5 their needs. 4 3 Since our founding in 1975, we’ve 2 received nearly $100 million in gifts and 1 awarded more than $60 million in grants. Dollars (Millions) 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Greater Worcester Community Foundation • 07 ANNUAL REPORT 3 Protect 4 Greater Worcester Community Foundation • 07 ANNUAL REPORT The Jeppson Memorial Fund A family rooted in Worcester nurtures its home W hen the Brookfield librarian saw that her young patrons were not using bicycle helmets, she and the police chief organized a Bike Safety Program, complete with prizes for students—50 free helmets. A grant from the Jeppson Memorial Fund provided most of the program’s $1,400 budget. Other grants have upgraded the Fire Department’s communications system and supplied the town with playground equipment, cherry trees, and curtains for the town hall. “Each year’s grants total about $7,000,” says John Jeppson II, whose grandfather John Jeppson I (1840 - 1920) was among the founders of the Norton Company. “The money is well used. We’re happy to see all that it does for the town.” Like his father, George Jeppson (1873 - 1962), John served as president and CEO of the Norton Company. Now that he is retired, John and his wife Marianne live year-round at Oakholm, a dairy farm in Brookfield that his parents bought as a summer home in 1925. Four generations of Jeppsons gather at Oakholm for family celebrations. John and Marianne Jeppson host four generations of Jeppsons at Oakholm, a farm in Brookfield that is their home. The town is just one of the designated beneficiaries of the Jeppson Memorial Fund. Each year the Foundation its second year. “We did it to preserve our assets and use distributes a portion of the endowed fund to grantees their income forever for the good of Worcester County,” that represent the abiding interests of the family. says John. “We wanted to put money back into the community that has been so good to us. The Jeppsons created their fund 30 years ago by transferring most of the money in their family “The Foundation’s many advantages include professional foundation, about $1.1 million, to Greater Worcester investment of funds,” John continues. “While providing Community Foundation. Their large gift helped to annual grants in perpetuity to the causes we care about, ensure the survival of the community foundation, then in our fund has grown almost fourfold.” W hile providing annual grants in perpetuity to the causes we care about, our fund has grown almost fourfold. John Jeppson II On left: The Brookfield Fire Department upgraded its communications system with a grant from the Jeppson Memorial Fund. Greater Worcester Community Foundation • 07 ANNUAL REPORT 5 Maureen Hendrickson Memorial Scholarship Fund A beloved teacher continues to touch young lives Maureen Henrickson Memorial Scholarship. “Sometimes the corn snake or guinea pig got loose, which raised havoc. We’d read in the Bat Cave—a desk under a black curtain—and organize food drives for the animal shelter. I gained my interest in science in Mrs. Henrickson’s class. She was a great teacher.” When Maureen Henrickson died of breast cancer in 2003, her school was overwhelmed by grief—and a desire to honor her.