CEN's income during 2008 was $23,847 and our total expenses were $47,502.93. While we succeeded in increasing our income by 57% growth over 2007, it did not keep up with increased expenses from the launch of the cCLEAR Pilot. We made up the shortfall with a zero-interest loan from Bob Bortner, CEN's founder. The majority of our income in 2008 was from fundraising events, followed closely by individual and business contributions. We are fortunate to receive a large percentage of our income from individuals who believe in what we do. This is critical support for the pursuit of our mission.

Our income target for 2009 is approximately $45,000, an increase of 55% over last year. How will we hit our target? Although individual contributions will remain crucial to funding our work, we expect to diversify our funding mix significantly this year. Increasingly, CEN's board members and volunteers have learned innovative and effective ways to raise money. Already each board member and many volunteers have pledged to organize at least one fundraising event. We're also planning to generate a growing share of our revenue this year through the sale of products from the communities we serve (such as Couro Ecológico), as well as through our Unveiling the Amazon volunteer-tourism program. While we anticipate securing a couple of small grants during 2009, the long delay between writing proposals and obtaining a grant will likely delay us winning a large grant we need to scale our work until next year.

Our expenses for 2008 nearly quadrupled from 2007 due to the launch of the cCLEAR Pilot, as well as a strong increase in fundraising activity. Even under these growth conditions, we were successful in keeping the share of administrative and fundraising expenses within limits that are generally considered good stewardship (less than 20% fundraising and less than 10% administrative) for an international non-profit. 72% of our expenditures were program related. We expect to maintain these target percentages during 2009.

Lisa Hall, CEN Treasurer