Letter from the president

I am happy to announce that the 2006/2007 fundraising campaign had a good result. We had an important growth this year of around 26% compared to last year. This is due to some very generous donors and to some unexpected new ones.

An important factor for this growth is the good news that for the second year in a row, 100 % of the proceeds from the fund raising campaign will be redistributed. This is made possible thanks to the very generous personal support of the UFB Board of directors and to the growing Martin Kallen Fund.

A total of € 1,356,097was collected through various sources of revenues :

• The donors to the campaign participated for € 1,110,669
  
  - Corporate & Foundation donations represent 78 % of the collected funds and are the main source of income;
  - In-House campaigns were organized within twelve corporations and over 650 employee donations account for 7 % of the total income;
  - The greeting cards account this year for 10 % of the results.
  - Individual donations reach 2 % of the total.
  - Special events/items sales contribute for 3 %.

• The donors to the Martin Kallen Fund contributed for € 164,695. TheBoard members and their corporations contributed mostly to this exceptional campaign. The market value of the Martin Kallen Fund is reaching now € 1,169,865. This Fund is not meant to be distributed but ra ther to be capitalized and its financial income to be used to partly compensate for UFB operating expenses.

• The donors to cover the balance of operating expenses gave € 80,733.

The UFB will be able to redistribute this year a total of € 1,028,580 to 98 charitable institutions in Belgium and, exceptionally, an additional € 97,000 to a Tsunami project in Indonesia.

This was made possible through the relentless efforts of many whom I would like to thank warmly : the small dynamic UFB staff, the helpful Board of Directors and the Allocation Committee, as well as the other numerous volunteers who support UFB on a regular basis.

Furthermore, our gratitude goes to all the companies who paid appreciable in-kind support. First of all to S.W.I.F.T for offering office space and related services for the seventh consecutive year. Many others should be mentioned : Deloitte, Hayez, Blondé International, Citibank, Westinghouse, Euroclear, ExxonMobil, KPMG, Toyota Motor Europe, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Delhaize, …

Once again, the UFB has managed to meet numerous demands for help and to link the business community with the people in need in Belgium in an effective way.

This is the result of your concern and wonderful cooperation.

On behalf of many beneficiaries, I would like to thank all of you !

Christian M. Jacobs
President