Somerville College ˜ Report for Donors

Questions
& Answers
with
Helen Morton, Treasurer
How would you summarise the
financial report for 2010-2011?
The College became a registered charity in December 2010
after many years as an exempt charity and therefore the
format of accounts has changed significantly. So my answer
is complicated by this change, as it is difficult to make
comparisons with previous years.
We experienced a small deficit this year, which is certainly not
ideal, but better than it might have been: we were hoping to
have sold a house within the financial year, and this sale was
delayed. We saw a significant increase in conference income,
which helped reduce the deficit. And it was a very good year
for donations – Somervillians are incredibly generous people,
and whenever we do make a surplus in a year, it is mostly due
to them.
It is important to note that the accounts are for the general
College fund, and therefore only acknowledge unrestricted
donations and legacies which we can use for general purposes
as decided by the College’s Governing Body. As the Development
Director mentions in her report, we have in fact received a total
of £2 million in donations and legacies during this financial year.
How well prepared is Somerville
to face future economic challenges?
We have a relatively stable situation – our endowment fund is
a defensive portfolio designed to produce a reasonable level of
income, whatever’s going on. The endowment assets of Somerville
increased in value by £3.4m to £39.3m at July 2011, which gives
us a modest endowment compared with some of the other colleges
in Oxford, but means that we’re not as dependent on that form
of income as those other colleges might be.
In fact, the College has a very diverse range of income sources,
made up of fees and academic income, student rents, non-student
rents, unrestricted donations and legacies, conference income.
Thanks to the new accommodation on the ROQ, we can keep
building our conference and trading income. Of course, that new
source of income would not have been available to us without
alumni support.
It can be a challenge when forecasting our financial performance,
because we don’t know exactly how many people have pledged
legacies to us or what the value of each pledge is. Somerville is
extremely lucky to have one of the largest legacy incomes of all
Oxford colleges, and this stands us in very good stead.
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