Finance & Investment
Transparency, accessibility, and clarity are at the heart of how the Yakima Valley Community Foundation manages the charitable assets entrusted to us.
Transparency, accessibility, and clarity are at the heart of how the Yakima Valley Community Foundation manages the charitable assets entrusted to us.
Each year, an independent audit is conducted and an audited Financial Statement is made available to our stakeholders. Assets at the end of FY2022 were in excess of $80 million and we made available more than $4.6 million in grants to the community during the year.
Clark Nuber is our independent audit firm and brings a depth of experience in the particular accounting requirements of Community Foundations. You may review the two most recent Audited Financial Statements here: 2021 and 2020.
Our Tax Return
Our current year tax return, Form 990, is available upon request.
Our Investment Committee implements and supervises our Investment Policy Statement with assistance from Graystone Consulting, a Morgan Stanley subsidiary specializing in foundations and endowments. Pooled investment assets of more than $70MM (ours, other charitable agencies, trusts, and Donor Advised Funds) provide the opportunity to participate in high-quality investments and receive lower fees. Our Investment Policy Statement is available upon request.
Investment fees and costs charged to funds are competitive, explicit, and transparent. Actual investment fees are passed through without markup and charged to all funds in the common investment pool on a pro-rata basis.
We pay our Investment Consultant Fee quarterly on the total value of our pooled assets and prorated among the funds. The rate of the fee falls downward in relation to the increase in size of our portfolio.
We seek truly independent advice and insist on straightforward fee structures. No member of our Investment Committee may have a business relationship with any firm providing us with investment services. The Investment Consultant may not directly, or indirectly, own securities in the pool, receive fees, “trailing fees,” 12-b1 distribution fees, or be involved in “soft money” transactions with any Investment Manager.
Funds are invested within a pool whose broad diversification reduces risk, lowers investment fees and maximizes returns. We offer two pooled portfolio options - a long-term fund pool or an Impact Investing (or ESG) portfolio option for those wanting to be sensitive to environmental, social, and governance issues. Opportunities exist for investing outside the pool for funds over $1,000,000, subject to the Investment Policy Statement.
Our model improves the overall diversification and cost structure of our community’s pooled assets, bringing objective, expert guidance to the complex challenge of managing a large pool of funds with a total rate of return objective.
To fund the costs of our philanthropic and investment services to the community, we established an Administrative Fee Schedule calculated daily and charged quarterly based on a fund’s average market value according to fund type and amount. When we discuss your fund, we will provide you with the precise investment and administrative fee your fund will incur.