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Summary of 2007 Financial Report
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The financial statements for the 31 March 2007 Financial Year (FY07) have been drafted but not yet audited. The auditor’s report will be completed shortly and the complete document will be available to members on request and at the AGM.
The key points from the draft statements are as follows:
Income from all sources, particularly donations and bequests, has continued the upward trend of the last few years. Donations are also at a good level, although the return from the Householder Appeal was lower than last year.
Bequests received this financial year total $1,700,000 and the Foundation gratefully acknowledges these lasting contributions from supporters of neurological research from throughout New Zealand.
Donations from the Headlines donation slip and the annual subscription appeal to members and supporters (a record $270,000), totalled a further $600,000.
The increase in the research budget from $450,000 during the 1990s to $650,000 (2001), $750,000 (2002), $1 million in 2003 and $1.25 million in 2004 has been continued this year with the budget for the 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 financial year set at $1.6 million, an increase of $100,000. Additionally, the Foundation has made a commitment to fund clinical research at the Auckland School of medicine including the appointment of a Chair (Professor) for Clinical Neurology.
$1,589,238 in new projects was approved in the financial year 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007, a record level of commitment for the Foundation, details of which are listed elsewhere.
This is not the actual expenditure for the year, which varies according to progress in particular projects, but the level of new project approvals - the budget for the Scientific Advisory Committee for the year.
This continues the pattern of recent years where the Foundation has been able to increase the amount of research funding with each round. That this is making a significant contribution to neurological research in New Zealand has been highlighted with Foundation-funded research being published in two of the world’s leading scientific journals in the last year.
University of Canterbury researcher Dr Lianne Woodward had her paper on detecting brain injury in babies published in the leading medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine. In March 2007, Professor Richard Faull’s research on stem cell repair pathways in the human brain was published in Science, regarded as the world’s top scientific journal. That it was the cover story signals the importance of his team’s work.
The Foundation continued its participation in International Brain Awareness Week, March 12 to 18, an initiative to promote neuroscience by the Dana Organization and which now involves 65 countries. This is the second year we have been involved and the highlight of the week was a Neurological Open Day held in conjunction with the University of Auckland’s School of Health and Medical Sciences.
We also sponsored the New Zealand round of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge, an event designed to encourage secondary school students to learn about the brain and inspire them to pursue careers in neuroscience.
A new post-doctoral repatriation was established to assist young neuroscientists working overseas to return home, which is in line with the Foundation goal of supporting New Zealand researchers at all levels.
The increased level of activity and research funding is once again a tribute to the generosity of the Foundation’s supporters.
The commitment to future research expenditure is currently over $2 million, i.e. the approved cost for actual research projects, to be paid as the research progresses. Many projects are approved for two or three years duration and this sum is the total of expenditure committed but not yet actually paid out.
The Executive Committee has a policy of restricting total overheads (administration including fund raising) to the international benchmark of less than 20% of income.
The proportion this financial year is 14% which reflects the Foundation’s high level of support from donations and bequests in particular plus careful attention to costs.
Overall the financial situation of the Foundation is satisfactory although the Council and the Executive Committee are far from complacent.
The wisdom of the Foundation's policy of establishing a sound capital base, a true "foundation", is amply demonstrated by the continuing high level of project expenditure.
As the Foundation's capital has increased, so have activities with activity expenditure (research, professional education plus the Information Service) exceeding $1.8 million per year.
Actual activity expenditure is expected to reach $2 million by the end of the current three year cycle next year.
Since all of the Foundation's income for its activities of medical research, professional education and public information comes from the community, any increase depends entirely on the extent to which the Foundation can attract community support.
So far, this has steadily increased over the 35 years of the Foundation's existence and the Council and staff will be trying very hard to ensure that this continues in the future.
| Income summary |
FY 2007
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| Donations |
$810,000
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| Bequests |
$1,700,000
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| Testamentary Trusts |
$110,000
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| Subscriptions |
$30,000
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| TOTAL |
$2,650,000
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