Consumer Reports Inc.

“Consumers information: consumer reports publishes and disseminates information and advice to consumers regarding topics such as consumer goods, services, health and personal finance in order to effect its educational purpose. The number of paid subscribers for each as of 5/31/19 include consumer reports magazine 3,425,085; consumer reports on health 585,419; and cr online 2,828,651. Consumer reports does not accept outside advertising in any of its publications. In addition, consumer reports disseminates consumer information through other print, radio, television, electronic publishing and interactive media. Product information: consumer reports conducts independent and impartial tests and analyses on a wide range of consumer products and services, such as electronics, appliances, household products, insurance, recreational goods, and cars. The tests and surveys evaluate how the products and services perform and educate consumers on the extent to which they are convenient, safe, and economical. During the fiscal year ended 5/31/19, consumer reports conducted tests and evaluations on more than 2,600 models of various consumer products, making use of about 60 laboratories and its auto track. The information gathered as a result of these tests is disseminated to the general public as described above. Form 990, part iii, line 4b education and advocacy programs: consumer reports is dedicated to improving the lives of consumers and promoting a fair, safe and transparent world. We are an independent nonprofit organization that seeks to educate consumers in order to drive a new era of consumer power and protection. For more than 80 years, we have built a legacy of trust among consumers by conducting rigorous science-based testing of products, championing the rights of consumers in the halls of government, moving corporate actors to provide consumers with greater transparency and safety, and helping consumers to navigate an increasingly complex marketplace. We provide our millions of members with information through testing, ratings, and review, and we have multiple platforms for the public to get our information and advice, including various online and print outlets and the television/video-on-demand program "consumer 101". Additionally, consumer reports provides substantial free consumer education information as a public service through online advice, advocacy efforts, social media campaigns, and other efforts. These combined efforts leverage consumer demand to push the marketplace to provide safe, reliable, and high-performing products. Consumer reports' longstanding commitment to educating consumers and advocating for laws, policies and practices that benefit consumers is exemplified by our fy19 (june 1, 2018 through may 31, 2019) accomplishments, some of which include: product safety cr investigation leads to recall of millions of infant inclined sleepers - a consumer reports investigation into the safety of infant inclined sleepers found that they were tied to dozens of infant deaths. Today the official count stands at 73 deaths, according to the consumer product safety commission. Cr's investigation prompted a recall of more than 5 million products, including fisher-price rock 'n play sleepers and the kids ii rocking sleepers. Cr alerted consumers to the dangers associated with the inclined sleep products, and urged anyone with a product or accessory to stop using it immediately. Infant inclined sleepers are designed to have babies sleep at an incline between 10 degrees and 30 degrees. The american academy of pediatrics says all such products increase the likelihood of airway compression and suffocation. Members of congress, safety advocates, doctors and other stakeholders credited cr for its work to get these products removed from the marketplace. Cr works to raise the standards for furniture safety and prevent tip-over deaths - the consumer product safety commission says one child is killed every two weeks when a piece of furn”

“In december 2018 mcdonald's announced plans to reduce the use of antibiotics in its global beef supply chain. The goal is to help combat the growing public health problem of antibiotic resistance, which undermines the ability of these lifesaving drugs to fight disease in humans. Infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria affect at least 2 million people and cause at least 23,000 deaths a year, according to the centers for disease control and prevention. The new policy came after mcdonald's, along with 21 other fast-food burger chains, received a failing grade in october 2018 from consumer reports and other groups for its approach toward antibiotic use in the beef it serves. These grades were part of the annual "chain reaction" report on the antibiotics policies of the nation's biggest restaurant chains. Cr will be watching carefully as mcdonald's develops targets for reduction in the coming year. Digital privacy and data security california governor signs privacy law - in june 2018 the california governor signed a law to mandate new privacy protections for state residents, including the right to opt out of data collection and demand that companies delete data that has already been collected. Consumer reports' advocates worked with state legislators, privacy groups, local consumers, and others to shape and improve the law. When some companies lobbied to weaken the law before it takes effect in 2020, cr testified before the legislature in favor of preserving the protections. Legislators agreed with cr's position and rejected the industry attempts to water down the law. Cr exposes facebook privacy problem - in may 2019 consumer reports published an investigation into facebook's privacy settings. Cr found that some facebook users did not have access to an important setting to control whether facebook could collect facial recognition data. The setting was missing for some users, despite the fact facebook had announced it and started rolling it out nearly 18 months earlier. Cr reported the problem to facebook and filed a complaint with the federal trade commission, which was already investigating facebook for privacy lapses. When the ftc announced a $5 billion settlement with facebook in july 2019, the agency cited cr's complaint as one of the examples of the company's failure to protect users' privacy. After the investigation was published and the settlement was announced, facebook said it was rolling out the setting to all users. Financial security and transparency cr launches "what the fee?!" campaign; advances bills in congress to curb hidden fees - hidden fees cost consumers billions of dollars a year. A recent nationally representative cr survey found 85 percent of respondents had been hit with an unexpected or hidden fee in the past two years. In june 2018 cr launched the "what the fee?!" campaign to shine a light on the problem, urge companies to be more transparent and honest about fees, educate consumers on ways to spot and avoid fees, and advocate for reforms. Thousands of consumers have come to our website whatthefee.com to share their stories and get free tips for fighting fees. A cr cover story published in may 2019 takes an in-depth look at consumer frustrations, advice, and the most common sources of hidden fees. Congress is now considering two bills championed by cr: a bill to require cable, phone and internet companies to include all fees in the advertised price, and a bill that puts similar requirements on hotels. Cr is also calling on the ftc to investigate and stop hotels that charge hidden resort fees, while working with officials in multiple states that are taking legal action against hotel resort fees. Tech/telecommunications cr helps advance bipartisan bills in congress to crack down on robocalls - in march 2019 consumer reports published the cover story "mad about robocalls?" about the growing problem of unwanted robocalls that disrupt people's daily lives. Too often, these robocalls are scam calls tryin”

“Form 990, part vi, line 6 and 7a consumer reports is a new york state not-for-profit membership corporation. The members for new york not-for-profit law purposes are any individual with a paid membership to the consumer reports membership program. Members can elect the board of directors at the annual meeting of members; adopt, amend or repeal the by-laws of the corporation; call a special meeting of the members under certain circumstances; and exercise such other powers as are provided by law. Form 990 review process form 990, part vi, line 11 the 990 is prepared utilizing the assistance of an independent accounting firm, kpmg. The related services from kpmg are approved by the audit committee as part of the audit approval process. After the 990 is prepared by cr finance department with coordination with kpmg, it is reviewed by the controller and cfo before it is reviewed and approved by the audit committee. A copy of the 990 is then provided to the board of directors prior to its filing.”

“Form 990, part vi, line 12c consumer reports' board of directors and staff members are required to fill out and sign a disclosure of interest statement and attestation of compliance each year. Board members' forms are reviewed by a committee of the board; staff members' forms are reviewed by an outside independent reviewer. Any conflicts will be addressed with the applicable board or staff member, with unresolved conflicts addressed by the appropriate conflict of interest committee. Remedies for conflicts of interest include recusal from participation in the matter giving rise to the conflict, disposing of an investment, termination of employment or resignation.”

“Form 990, part vi, lines 15a and 15b the governance committee of the board of directors reviews the compensation provided to cr's president and senior executive staff to ensure that they are consistent with cr's mission, are designed to attract and retain the high levels of leadership talent needed to achieve cr's operating plans, and are compliant with law. To that end, the governance committee (1) recommends to the executive committee of the board of directors compensation plans and pay levels for the president, taking into account peer group practices and any special considerations, as well as employment agreements; (2) reviews the compensation of the president and senior executive staff to ensure compliance with the irs intermediate sanction requirements; and (3) reviews and approves (a) for executives reporting directly to the president, any proposed compensation increase for the proposed compensation for any new hire and (b) for executives not reporting directly to the president, (i) any proposed compensation increase that exceeds the annual salary increase guidelines established by human resources and (ii) the proposed compensation for any new executive hire that exceeds the market median as reported in executive compensation studies conducted by a third party executive compensation consulting firm. The executive committee's recommendation on the president's compensation plans and pay levels is voted on by the full board of directors. Deliberations and decisions regarding the foregoing compensation arrangements are contemporaneously recorded in the organization's minutes. The foregoing process for establishing compensation for the indicated persons was last undertaken in april and may of 2019.”

“Form 990, part vi, line 19 consumer reports' annual financial statements are made available to the public on its website, www.consumerreports.org. Our governing documents, form 1023, and conflict of interest policy are available to the public upon request.”

“Form 990, part x, lines 27-29 the fasb issued accounting standards update (asu) 2016-14 not-for-profit entities (topic 958), presentation of financial statements of not-for profit entities, which among other things, changes how not-for-profit entities report net asset classes. The significant requirements of asu 2016-14 include reduction in the number of net asset classes from three to two: with donor restrictions (formerly reported as temporarily restricted net assets) and without donor restrictions (formerly reported as unrestricted net assets). The 2018 form 990, part x was not updated to reflect the change in net asset class terminology; therefore, consumer reports has reported net assets without donor restriction as unrestricted net assets and net assets with donor restrictions as temporarily restricted net assets. Other changes in net assets or fund balances part xi, line 9 unrealized loss interest rate swap $ (913,000) pension related changes $ (2,299,000) change in value of split interest agreement $ 132,888 rounding $ (1,494) ----------------- total other changes in net assets or fund balances $ (3,080,606)”