Page 3 - Our Impact 2014

A REAL INVESTMENT IN OXFORDSHIREFollowing a year of unprecedented success, we have big ambitions for a better Oxfordshire as the community foundation shifts up a gear.2014 has been a wonderful, ground- breaking year for our community foundation. We received our highest ever amount in annual donations – topping a million pounds. And what a great time to be doing it – just as we are marking 100 years since the world’s first community foundation was created in Cleveland, Ohio.This milestone has been something of an inspiration to us. In Cleveland, the foundation has generated not only an impressive 976 million dollars’ worth of gifts from the public, butan extraordinary four billion dollars in community investment. They have multiplied the value of theirinvestments four times – and all of this in a city that has a smaller population than we do in Oxfordshire.It is in this expert ‘gearing’ that the community foundation model really comes into its own. In Oxfordshire,we have exceeded all of our targets thanks to our donors, who have really got behind initiatives such as the government’s Community First match- funding challenge. This has enabled us to turn their generous gifts into remarkable contributions that will help community organisations for years to come.But we are ambitious, and want to be doing so much more. We know this is possible because other community foundations right here in the UKhave been making progress similarto Cleveland’s. If we can grow our community investment in the same way they have, we think we can makean even greater impact on lives of the most vulnerable in our county. In this report, we are delighted to share with you how we plan to do so.Thank you so much for your support.Jayne Woodley, CEO and Anna Moon, ChairImpact Report 2014 3OUR APPROACH