The Advertising Council Inc

“I) a copy was provided to the audit committee of the board of directors; ii) the 990 was provided electronically; iii) the ad council has its form 990 prepared by an outside accounting firm and has an established review process to ensure the information provided is comprehensive and truthful: throughout the year, the audit committee has opportunities to discuss and comment on the form 990 during their regularly scheduled meetings. Prior to filing the final draft (electronic version) of the form 990 it is provided to the audit committee.”

“All board members, employees and volunteers receive the code of conduct and conflict of interest policy and are required to sign the policy. A log is maintained both within the development department (for board members/volunteers) and within the hr department (for employees). Ad council requires that any member report in writing any conflict of interest that arises in the following manner: (1) members of the board of directors shall disclose any conflict of interest to the chair of the board; (2) employees shall disclose any conflict of interest to the senior vice president, director of human resources; and (3) volunteers shall disclose any conflict of interest to the ad council's ceo or cfo. The existence of a potential conflict of interest does not necessarily constitute a violation of the conflict of interest policy. The policy requires disclosure and review of potential conflicts and prohibition of actual conflicts of interest. In some cases, disclosure may be all that is required. In other cases, the situation may require additional action to avoid an actual conflict of interest or to remedy one. Where a conflict of interest arises, an interested covered party shall abstain from deliberations and refrain from participating in any decisions or voting in connection with the matter. The code of conduct and conflict of interest policy is reviewed annually. The policy was updated for staff in april 2014 and for the board in october 2014. The updated policy was distributed to all employees and board members/volunteers to be reviewed and signed.”

“Approximately every two to four years, the ad council hires an independent consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive compensation study. The study is conducted to assess the external competitiveness of the ad council's current total pay, develop comparable market base salary and total pay summary statistics and audit & recommend changes to the ad council's employee incentive plan. The most recent study was performed in august 2014. The information gathered from these studies is used to help inform the decision making process of the compensation committee. The compensation committee is comprised of the chair of the board, the two vice chairs and the head of the finance committee. The committee meets at least annually to review and establish the total compensation package (base salary and incentive goals) for the president & ceo and executive vice presidents. The committee also reviews and approves the total incentive payout for the entire organization. This entire process is contemporaneously documented in meeting minutes. Fiscal year 2015 compensation review was performed on september 23, 2014. Fiscal year 2016 compensation review was performed on september 18, 2015. Fiscal year 2017 review was performed on september 8, 2016. Other key employees are addressed in the compensation study and this comparative data is used as a part of the process where the ceo, cfo, hr and department head review and approve the compensation package for each employee annually.”

“Governing documents (by-laws) and/or conflict of interest policy are available upon request. The financial statements can be found on the ad council's website www.adcouncil.org.”

“President and ceo peggy conlon retired on december 31, 2014. She was partially employed with the ad council during the organization's 2015 tax year. The amount listed for peggy conlon in column d reflects the payouts of a partial year incentive ($86,250), a serp-equivalent payout in the form of a taxable bonus ($103,515) and a retirement fringe benefit payout ($27,717) all paid during organization's 2016 tax year.”

“Each november the ad council holds the public service award dinner. Contributions from this event are reported on part viii, line 1c of the form 990 as $3,929,035. As many event attendees pay more than the retail value of the actual dinner an overall gain of $3,478,328 is realized vs. The event gain of $337,875 as reported on schedule g part ii. Also in fiscal 2016 the ad council held an online auction. Total contributions were $48,582 which were also included on part viii, line 1c of form 990. Auction expenses totaled $10,647.”

“The ad council's business model includes the services of a pro bono advertising agency for each of the public service announcement campaigns ("campaigns") that the ad council creates and distributes for its government and non-profit clients. Amongst these volunteer ad agencies are several agencies that have officers who also sit on the ad council board. The pro bono advertising agencies are approved by the client prior to their selection. These agencies donate their labor to the campaign; with the exception of certain pre-authorized specialized tasks which are offered at significantly discounted rates. The ad council and its clients pay for pre-approved out of pocket costs incurred in the course of performance for these specific campaigns. These reimbursed costs include physical production, travel, third party research, telephone, postage and certain other costs of creating, producing, and distributing these campaigns. Additionally, the ad council utilizes the services of specialized vendors for the campaigns that often provide discounted and nonprofit rates to the ad council. Amongst these specialized vendors are several businesses that have officers who also sit on the ad council board. The ad council also has several regional employees who work out of donated office space from companies that have officers who sit on the ad council board. These costs are accounted for as donated use of facilities.”

“As the nation's leading provider of public service communications, the ad council creates campaigns on behalf of nonprofit organizations and government agencies, tackling the most pressing social issues of the day. We raise awareness and inspire action on dozens of critical social issues, including discrimination, autism, addiction and college access. Through our compelling and cutting-edge communications, we connect with americans to inspire, inform and save lives.”

“Form 990, part vii, section a was amended to reflect the correct list of officers and directors. Part i, line 6 was amended to reflect the correct number of volunteers.”

“The ad council's mission is to identify a select number of significant public issues and stimulate action on those issues through communications programs that make a measurable difference in our society. To that end, the ad council marshals volunteer talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to create awareness, foster understanding and motivate action.”

“Actuarial change in post retirement obligations -22,596. Prior year bad debts collected in current year -32,430.”

“The ad council has an audit committee that assumes responsibility for the oversight of the audit of the financial statements and for the selection of the independent auditors. This process has not changed from the prior year.”

“Board = 165 chair emeritus & honorary members = 41 crc committee = 35 advisory committee = 30 finance committee = 6 audit committee = 1 social impact council = 13 user experience committee = 20 leadership committee = 73 research committee = 23 total = 407”