2008 - The Seattle Foundation

2008
While the 2008 financial crisis created greater needs
in our community, it also gave us reason for hope.
Foundation donors have risen to the challenges that
face King County today by generously supporting
the organizations effectively working to improve the
well-being of our community.
The Seattle Foundation’s commitment to building a healthy community for
all King County residents remains as strong as ever. In 2008, with our donors,
we granted more than $63 million to over 2000 organizations and promising
initiatives in King County and beyond.
Though our assets declined like most investments nationwide, The Seattle
Foundation’s portfolio performed well when benchmarked against comparable
endowments. In the longer term, The Seattle Foundation has outperformed
portfolios comprised of traditional stocks and bonds due to prudent and
responsible stewardship of charitable funds that has been the basis of our
investment strategy for decades.
The Seattle Foundation is also leading efforts to respond to increasing need in
our community. Late last year The Seattle Foundation joined forces with the
United Way of King County and other local funders to create the Building
Resilience Fund—a three-year, $6 million effort to help local people who
have been hardest hit by the economic downturn. Through this fund, we are
bolstering the capacity of selected nonprofits to meet increasing basic needs
and providing a network of services to put people on the road on self-reliance.
We are also targeting more of our resources to ensure economic opportunity
and educational success for all King County residents—two elements of a
healthy community with the greatest potential to broadly improve overall
quality of life. In 2008, The Seattle Foundation awarded four targeted grants,
totaling $327,500, to connect low-income people to effective primary and postsecondary
education. These went to help ensure students graduate from high
school with the knowledge and skills to succeed, and provide much-needed
resources to small minority-owned businesses.
As we look to the future, we are confident that our community will emerge
stronger and healthier than ever. As always, we remain proud and humbled to
support the generosity of our donors and the good work being done in
this community, our home.
2008 Annual Report