Annual Report

This year the Fund, operating under its new name, The Brackett Refugee Education Fund, mounted a special campaign to solicit support for its endowment. Supported by a matching grant of $20,000 from the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation, we raised a additional $38,429. Strong public support for the Fund continued this year. We received a total of $289,145 in direct public support $179,755 for annual program support, plus $50,951 from two grants for specific projects in Thailand and India.

Breaking down our income according to donor type, Trustees of the Fund (Trustees), Foundation Grants (Grants), and individual donors (Public), we see the following distribution, which shows that nearly two/thirds of our total donations came from members of the public as individual donations. We are very happy that our organization has a 'grass roots' character and that the major fraction of its support is raised from generous individuals like yourself who believe in our mission.

The next graph shows the history of our fund-raising efforts since the Fund started in 1997.

An analysis of this graph shows that on the average our receipts have risen about 17% each year. Although we intend to continue to pursue fund-raising vigorously, we must insure that the organization itself grows so that it can responsibly administer the funds received, and furthermore it must grow in such a way as to retain its essential volunteer character.

The following summary of income and expenses for 2007 shows we raised $57,645 more than we spent last year, and that we entered our trip to Asia this year with $261,958 to support our programs. It also shows the value of our endowment at $247,560.

We have tried very hard to keep overhead low, and this year we spent only 3.8% of our total expenditures on overhead. We are able to do this not simply by our own efforts, but by a number of generous professionals who have volunteered their time in our service. However, as the size and complexity of our organization grows, we come under increasing pressure to spend more money for administration, professional services, and the like, which contribute to rising overhead.

We started attempts to raise money from corporate, and private foundations years ago, but with the very notable exception of the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation, who has given us gifts totaling $142,000, we have not been successful until this year. The Dorothea Haus Ross Foundation granted us $20,449 to support children refugees along the border in Thailand, and the B.K. Kee Foundation granted us $30,512 to support and expand our work for the Chin refugees in India. Not only did these grants provide us with additional funds, they caused us to review our work and sharpen our focus in planning our work in 2008.

Encouraged by these grants and the work they allowed us to do, we will continue our work to find new sources of grant money in the future.

Project Descriptions in Thailand	Granted 2007
Four elementary Karen schools, one Karenni vocational high school, and two Shan schools for migrant laborer's children in Thailand	21,965
Four boarding houses to allow hill-tribe and orphaned Karen to attend school	12,489
Nine elementary Karen, schools one Shan school and Karenni Teachers in Burma	19,150
Project Descriptions in India
High School and College scholarships for Chin students in India	18,835
Chin Women's Organization for elementary education for children in India	6,030
Total Expenditure on Projects	$78,469

In all we spent $53,604 supporting projects in Thailand and $24,865 in India this year.

We supported a total of 119 students in our Leader Intern program. 102 in Thailand and 17 in India and Burma. They went to the following school types:

We granted $71,856 to our Leader Interns in Thailand, and $18,835 to those in India, including the one refugee medical student from Aizawl studying in Armenia.

We supported forty-two students in high school and vocational schools in Thailand in our Study Grant Program. The total cost of this program was $11,480.

Our Foundation is characterized by a broad and diverse collection of supporters, a good knowledge of the people we work with, and a close relation with the students and project leaders we help. We do more than simply provide money. Because of our close relations with the people, we are accepted as friends and our advice is sought on many matters.

We take this opportunity to thank all of our donors without whom this work would not be possible. We also wish to thank our refugee project directors, who are also volunteers, and who have committed themselves to working closely with us to ensure the integrity and success of our projects. To our many refugee friends who have understood our commitment and who have shared their lives with us, we wish a happier future for them and their families.