2008 Financials

In 2008, despite a national economic downturn, the Foundation remained competitive, accepting more than $44 million in new gifts and funds.

The Rhode Island Foundation employs long-term investment strategies and sound financial principles to ensure that the philanthropic contributions entrusted to us last forever. We also serve the larger community, requiring us now, more than ever, to maximize our available grantmaking dollars.

The Foundation has diversified asset allocations and sets high performance standards for investment managers. During the past decade, the Foundation has increased the proportion of equity investments and has expanded its portfolio to include emerging markets, alternative investments, and global fixed income assets. Index funds comprised more than 35 percent of the Foundation’s portfolio in 2008. The Foundation is committed to a “total return” investment philosophy, including a 5.9% spending limit, to ensure that our endowment grows in perpetuity. Any investment return earned over the spending limit is added to principal, thus increasing the size of the endowment to combat inflation and overcome cyclical down markets.

And 2008 can certainly be described as a cyclical down market -- one of the most challenging years for investors in recent history. Endowment managers at universities and colleges nationwide reported drops in value of up to 40 percent; community foundations were not immune from the effect of an economy that spiraled downward in the last two quarters.

The Foundation saw its endowment lose approximately 27 percent in value. We are proud, however, that our 10-year average investment return of 5.8 percent is nearly double the national community foundation average.

What is even more important: thanks to the Foundation's 16-quarter trailing average policy that applies to both investments and grantmaking, we were able to distribute more than $27 million in the community in 2008 -- a record breaking grantmaking number. More than 1,300 organizations received grants from the Foundation. We are committed to monitoring our operating expenses to ensure the greatest possible investment in Rhode Island.

Selected Financial Information

Years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007. Full financial statements are available upon request. Form 990s, when they are complete, will be available at www.rifoundation.org.