Treasurer Letter
A letter from Donald G. Williamson, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer
Our continued fiscal responsibility and focused management of downside market risk, including adjustments for our core holding of Kellogg Company stock, remain central to our investment and financial planning strategy. The investment portfolio for the foundation and Trust were valued at $7.7 billion, providing more than enough coverage for spending on grants, program-related activities, administration costs and inflation.
The Mission Driven Investments portfolio valued at $82.7 million of cash equivalents, fixed income and private equity seeks to provide social impact in support of vulnerable children and their families, as well as market-rate returns. Realized benefits validate the foundation’s premise that investments can be leveraged in the portfolio to deliver both social and financial returns.
Another tool the foundation uses to support grantmaking is program-related investments-below market-rate loans to organizations in the United States and internationally that align with our mission.
For the fiscal year, the foundation made new grant commitments totaling $213 million. Of this total, nearly 69 percent benefited WKKF’s place-based work in our priority places of Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans in the United States, and internationally in Haiti and Mexico.
The foundation’s trustees are provided bimonthly financial statements. Annual fiscal operating plans prepared by management are reviewed and approved by the board.
Results of the examinations by independent accountants and the foundation’s internal audit office are reviewed and accepted by the full board. Mitchell Titus, LLP serves as the independent accountants for the foundation and the Trust. For tax technical expertise, advisory services and return filings, the foundation and Trust utilize CroweLLP.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s and W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust’s financial statements are audited by Mitchell Titus, LLP. A full set of the 2019 audited financial statements is available for download.■