Assets, charitable gifts broke $100 million mark
MBF press release
The year 2009 marked several significant milestones in the history of MB Foundation (MBF) as two important categories broke the $100 millionmark for the first time ever. Assets ended the year at $109,966,993, up from $94,313,791 in 2008.
“We are humbled by the growth we’ve experienced and recognize that we are only stewards of what others haveentrusted to us,” says Jon C. Wiebe, MBF president and CEO. “We are equally excited to report that our expectancies, gift funds in the pipeline for a variety of charities, endedthe year at $105,739,146. This is a testimony to the generosity of others.”
Helping people with their charitable objectives is at the heart of what MBF does in "Giving Meaning to Money®." Despite the sluggish economy, $1,632,525 in charitable gifts were distributed to other charities, including over 70 percent directly to ministries of the Mennonite Brethren. The economy has caused MBF to concentrate its planned giving efforts on charitable estateplanning, developing a new service called Biblical Estate Design.
Meanwhile, the Certificate investment program continues to be popular in this low-interest rate environment. The number of accounts has increased by 85 percent in the past two years with IRA accounts showing wide acceptance. These Certificate investments help fund the loan portfolio,which continues to grow, up nearly 8.5 percent with current loans outstanding of $63.8 million. Many people have asked about the strength of the loan portfolio. While there are always churches facing significant ministry andfinancial challenges, the delinquency rate at year end was below 2 percent, well-belowindustry norms.
MBF money managers did very well in 2009, which bodes well for endowments and other gift funds. The MBF standard endowment portfolio returned a robust 20.74 percent for the year. Additional 2009 highlights include: Certification as a Best Christian Workplace, a nationwide Stewardship Survey, launch of a new Website and the introduction of Online Account Access for Certificate and Loan customers.
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