Another year, and more major accomplishments in our parks thanks to you! Your support allowed us to invest $1,247,590 this year on our core parks care priorities: the trees, the grass, the sculpture and the fountains in the Common, the Garden, and the Mall. It takes a committed and diverse group of people to renew, care, and advocate for these urban greenspaces. Long-term conservation and care require sustained investment, and we are grateful that you recognize this. Know that your support enables ongoing parks care as well as timely responses to emerging issues. Your generosity and dedication is at the heart of every success story in our parks.
We are so grateful for the trust you place in us as stewards of your parks. Your support enables us to protect the history and beauty of the parks we all love so much, now and into the future. Thank you, you make it all possible!
Leslie and Liz
The fifth and final phase of the Boylston Street Border renovation project in the Garden was finished with a new design to celebrate the promenade ending at the Channing Monument on Arlington Street.
We have been able to bring a dynamic collaboration of partner organizations together to restore the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial including the City, the National Park Service, and the Museum of African American History, and we celebrated a kickoff event in July. As part of our year-long program to educate and engage the public about the importance of the monument, we want to use the restoration as a platform for dialogue about race, freedom, and justice.
Thanks to the generosity of the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust, we launched what were enthusiastically received and well-used pilot temporary restrooms on the Common from July through October.
We worked with the City to ensure the Common received the promised investment of $28 million from the sale of the Winthrop Square garage to restore and maintain Boston’s center stage of civic life to the highest level. A Master Plan for the park will re-imagine the intersection of history and future possibilities, and your voices will be critical during that process.
We convened a broad coalition of advocate voices concerned about the negative impact of the Boston Freedom Rally on the Common and the park’s users at a City Council hearing. Joining our voices with others strengthened our advocacy and supported the City in limiting the event to one day this September.
George Washington, Ether Memorial, the Founders Memorial, and the Edward Everett Hale statue all were in the conservation cycle this year.
#FriendsEvents – A June deluge greeted the 500 hardy Boston schoolchildren who came to Making History on the Common, but learning and fun happened despite the weather. Duckling Day welcomed over 1,000 children and adults to participate in the cutest event in Boston. Finally, Celebrate Brewer 150! was a great success and inspired us to hold a seasonal welcome event at Brewer Fountain Plaza every year.
INCOME | 2018 | 2017 | |
Support | $2,136 | $1,866 | |
Public Programs & Revenue | 170 | 85 | |
Draw on Invested Funds | 686 | 684 | |
Release of Temporarily Restricted Funds | 400 | 175 | |
Total Income | $3,392 | $2,810 |
EXPENSES | |||
Parks Care: | |||
Common, Garden & Mall | $1,248 | $1,040 | |
Public Programs | 194 | 135 | |
Personnel & Overhead | 441 | 355 | |
Total Parks Care | $1,883 | $1,530 |
Communications & Development: | |||
Communications | $40 | $55 | |
Development Events | 125 | 116 | |
Personnel & Overhead | 371 | 334 | |
Total Communications & Development: | $536 | $505 |
Administration: | $191 | $144 |
Total Expenses: | $2,610 | $2,179 |
Transfer to Temporarily Restricted Funds | $(770) | $(600) |
Net Surplus | $12 | $31 |
ASSETS | 2018 | 2017 | |
Current Assets: | |||
Cash & Cash Equivalents | $673 | $716 | |
Pledges & Accounts Receivable | 355 | 644 | |
Prepaid Expenses | 36 | 34 | |
Total Current Assets | $1,064 | $1,394 |
Investments | $21,727 | $21,454 | |
Property & Equipment | 784 | 817 | |
Performance Deposit | 35 | 40 | |
Total Assets | $23,610 | $23,705 |
LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS | |||
Liabilities: | |||
Accounts Payable & Accruals | $489 | $117 | |
Deferred Revenue | — | 26 | |
Mortgage Payable | 252 | 293 | |
Pilot Bathrooms (fiscal agent) | 1,335 | — | |
Total Liabilities | $2,076 | $436 |
Net Assets: | |||
Unrestricted | $5,355 | $6,006 | |
Temporarily Restricted | 2,276 | 3,857 | |
Permanently Restricted | 13,903 | 13,406 | |
Total Net Assets | $21,534 | $23,269 |
Total Liabilities & Net Assets | $23,610 | $23,705 |
Notes to Operating Results and Statements of Financial Position
Total Support was $2.1 million, 14% higher than the $1.9 million received in 2017. Support consists of Membership, Designated and Undesignated Con- tributions, Grants, Bequests, and Special Event proceeds. Designated Contributions exceeded budget by $159,000 primarily due to the continued popu- larity of the Sponsored Benches & Trees programs. We also received two unexpected undesignated gifts totaling $300,000. The rolling three-year average of our investments, measured at September 30, 2017 for the 2018 draw, remained at $17.1 million. Income from Temporarily Restricted Assets increased due to a larger pool of funds available from the previous year. Total Income rose 21% to a new high of $3.4 million.
Total Expenses for 2018 were 20% higher than in 2017 primarily due to a $208,000 increase in Parks Care spending. The increase in Personnel & Over- head expenses is mostly due to an increase in the use of professional services – public relations, legal, IT, and contract labor. We transferred $770,000 to Temporarily Restricted Funds: $300,000 to a new Brewer Fountain & Mall Sculpture Lighting Fund, $170,000 to a new Friends 50th Anniversary Fund, and then $100,000 each to the Common Fund, the Garden Fund, and the Mall Fund. These distributions will support much of the work set out in the 2019 budget. We ended the year with a small surplus, just as in 2017.
Due to the market downturn during the fourth quarter, investment performance for 2018 was -6.8%, which is less negative than our benchmark for the year. Our endowment performance remains in the top 25% of the Cambridge Associates universe of endowments of less than $100 million. The decrease for Pledges Receivable is due to the receipt of many pledges made for the Henry and Joan Lee Sculpture Endowment. The increase in Accounts Payable is primarily due to future in-kind payments that will be due to contractors for restoration of the Shaw/54th Memorial. Lastly, we are acting as the fiscal agent for a $1.5 million grant from a charitable trust for a multi-year pilot program to bring temporary public restrooms to the Boston Common.