FOR's Annual Report: July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010
You may download the full annual report and 990 form (PDF). Following is the annual report’s introductory letter from FOR’s Executive Director, Mark Johnson.
The nature of our economic system is at continuing risk of collapse if one is to believe the wide variety of voices assessing the global money system. The insecurity this breeds is evident in the world of philanthropy and the state of non-profit organizations in recent years. The overturn of economic systems can be justified on the grounds of the structural violence embedded in their workings, including: the perpetuation of poverty, the mal-distribution of well-being in the arenas of health, education, shelter, and participatory access in decision-making in economic and political life. But orderly movement in that direction is still nascent; the “sunk costs” of current economic institutions and patterns of behavior are so entrenched that the creative imagination leading to alternative futures is still looking for cracks in the cosmic egg.
To distract attention from fundamental inequalities and constructive explorations of reform, a number of both political and cultural leaders exploit ethnocentric fears and anxieties. This is done by the stirring up of irrational responses to diversities in the human community such as religious belief, political ideology, and ethnicity. Rather, we should celebrate the richness these differences add to communal living in the world house if all are to have equal access to well-being.
This is offered as a broad brush context in which to consider the annual report of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. We have managed to maintain a core set of programmatic activities, a stable if stretched staff, an engaged volunteer base, and a creative emergence of aspirations about how to more efficiently manage our affairs on behalf of the work and the world. Our net assets have even continued to grow modestly. But all this semblance of stability rests on the good fortune of a small number of major donations and the timing of some substantial bequests.
The broader accumulation of small gifts has shrunk in number and size and this pattern runs counter to the healthiest patterns in the past of sustainable not- for-profit operations. Religious institutions are shrinking in membership and support, educational institutions are increasing tuition and reducing financial support to students, health institutions are being privatized with decisions responsive to shareholders’ interests in profits rather than patients’ wellbeing, cultural institutions are selling their assets or are relying on current archives rather than promoting new creative artists, and political parties and candidates are relying more heavily on lobbyists and institutional donors in a continuous process of reelection attention.
We have increased our number of appeals for support and are seeking to tighten our operating belt to ensure continued viability. The financial data provides one way of assessing our stewardship; the programmatic content and description provides another. We welcome your scrutiny, inquiries and your continuing support of the ongoing legacy of a FOR-guided search for peace and social justice in the World House.
Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D. Executive Director
