As a public charity, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation believes strongly in the principles of openness and transparency not only to our donors, but to the public and community groups we serve. To that end, our annual IRS 990 filing, our investment operating policies and performance, as well as our audited financial statements are posted here. Please contact us with any questions at donorservices@greaterworcester.org. EIN: 04-2572276

Financial and Investment Information

Financial Statements

Audit of Greater Worcester Community Foundation's financial statements as of, and for the year ended December 31, 2021 was conducted by Alexander, Aronson, Finning & Company, PC. Excerpts from the statements are also available here.

Form 990 is the "tax return" filed with the IRS by organizations that are exempt from federal income tax. Foundation 990s are available below in PDF format*.

*To view PDF files, Adobe Acrobat Reader software must be installed on your computer.

Investment Policies & Performance

Your gifts and funds become part of a professionally managed community endowment, where they grow and benefit from economies of scale.

Foundation investments adhere to an asset allocation policy designed to preserve and grow principal over the long-term. Our goal is to secure funds for both immediate and future community needs.

The Foundation's Investment Committee reviews performance evaluation data and selects managers for each asset class, based on guidance from independent consultants Prime Buchholz & Associates.

Statement of Investment Objectives, Goals and Policy Guidelines [PDF]

Foundation Spending Policy

Our spending policy follows a total return approach. Rather than distributing net income, a total return model allows spending at a fixed rate of total market value, including realized and unrealized gains. This policy enables our investment managers to build overall investment return, incorporate growth and income strategies, and lower the impact of market fluctuations. Over the long term, this disciplined approach builds the Foundation’s assets and consequently, increases our grantmaking capacity.

Because of these prudent policies, funds of the Foundation have greatly increased in value. In just the last decade, the endowment and its component funds have more than doubled in total value.

Greater Worcester Community Foundation invests its permanently endowed funds, the majority of its donor advised funds and agency funds in a commingled pool designed to preserve and grow principal over the long-term.

A board-approved investment policy governs investment objectives, asset allocation and spending rate.

Investment Performance

2023 Investment Report

Quarterly Investment Performance

Total GWCF investments*: $182,791,909
Total of all foundation investments: $199,723,320

Quarterly Update: December 31, 2023

YTD1YR3YR5YR10YR
GWCF Invested Fund*18.5%18.5%4.4%8.0%5.5%
Benchmarks
Actual Index16.0%16.0%4.3%8.6%5.7%
65% MSCI AC World Index/35% BC Global Agg16.3%16.3%1.8%7.6%5.4%

All returns are shown net of investment fees. Actual Index is a custom benchmark of indices based on the weighted allocation of each asset class and measures the return of passive index portfolios.

Quarterly Investment Performance Analysis 12.31.2023 Report (PDF)