2008 has been a very difficult year financially for businesses, individuals and non-profit organizations like the March of Dimes. We present the 2008 and 2007 financial results for the Foundation including the National Office and 51 Chapters. Due to the generosity of the American public, we were able to fund our research grants, expand our NICU Family Support® initiatives to more than 80 locations and maintain a strong Program Services Ratio. In 2008, 76% of our expenses went to funding program activities, including research, advocacy, community programs and education activities. As you can see, total operating revenue came in at $242 million, a decrease of $5 million compared to prior year. With expense cuts, we were able to manage a net operating gain of $7.0 million. The loss on investments reflects the market-related decline in the Foundation’s Investment Portfolio. Despite maintaining a highly diversified investment portfolio, we still incurred an overall decline of 27%, which significantly outperformed the S&P 500 benchmark decline of 37%. The Foundation adopted SFAS #158-Pension Accounting Standard in 2007, and it resulted in a reduction to net assets in 2008 of $41.7 million due to significant market-driven losses on our pension assets.   As we move forward into 2009, we are hopeful the markets will start to rebound as well as the general economy, which will reverse both of these investment-related losses. We thank our many volunteers and donors and ask for their continued support.

 

Tom Russo Treasurer March 27, 2009