Financial and Grant Information

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation makes grants and program-related investments to organizations and individuals in the U.S. and internationally to help improve the human condition.  In 2007, the Foundation paid out $266.8 million in grants and program-related investments.

The table below shows how much the Foundation paid out annually from 2003 to 2007. Actual cash paid out from year to year varies depending upon payment schedules of larger grants.

As the table below shows, in 2007 the Foundation authorized 482 grants to organizations. The average size of those grants was $646,000.

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

The Foundation's charitable administrative costs totaled $29.6 million in 2007, about 11.3 percent of total charitable expenditures.  The table below shows charitable administrative expenses over the last five years.

INVESTMENT SUMMARY

The Foundation invests for the long term with the objective of earning a real rate of return, net of expenses, sufficient to fund its charitable giving and operations. The underlying principles of the Foundation's investment approach may be summarized as follows:

• The Foundation maintains a broadly diversified portfolio with allocation to a variety of asset classes, both public and private.
• The broad diversification, combined with rigorous analytical research, is intended to enable the Foundation to manage risk so that it can perform well in strong markets while protecting against substantial capital loss in weak markets.
• The Foundation seeks to achieve strong net returns over time at a cost comparable to other institutions with similar asset allocations.
• The Foundation's net returns have been strong over various periods of time as demonstrated below.

The investment portfolio is managed by the Foundation’s Investment Department, led by the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer.  Overseeing the Investment Department is a seven-person Investment Committee.  The members of the Investment Committee are Robert Denham,  Jonathan Fanton, Richard Mayo, Will Miller (chair)  Marjorie Scardino,  Maarten Nederloff, Thomas Theobald, and  Byron Wein.

MacArthur’s investment portfolio had a return of 19.37 percent in 2007 net of investment management costs.  The first table below shows assets at the end of each of the last five years and the annual investment return for those years. 

The following tables show the Foundation’s asset allocation over each of the past five years and provide details of the 2007 asset allocation.

AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORT

Click here for the Foundation’s most recent audited financial report.

TAX RETURN (990-PF)

The 990-PF is the tax return that private foundations must file each year with the Internal Revenue Service.  It provides financial information about the Foundation's assets, investments, expenses, and grants awarded for the year. If you have questions or would like more information about how to interpret this document please contact our Chief Financial Officer, Marc Yanchura, at (312) 726-8000.

What follows is the MacArthur Foundation's most recent 990-PF, which covers the year ended December 31, 2006.

2006 Federal Form 990-PF