The Foundation Center

“The center's form 990 is prepared by the controller and accounting manager. The draft form 990 is then reviewed by members of the tax department of the center's independent accounting firm, pkf o'connor davies, and by the organization's vp of financial strategy and president. Subsequently, the audit committee of the center's board of trustees and the full board receive an electronic copy of the form 990 and reviews the return. After responding to all inquiries and making any necessary changes, the final form 990 is provided to all members of the board prior to its filing with the irs.”

“A conflict of interest disclosure statement is obtained annually from all trustees, officers, manager and other key employees who are currently serving the center. A report summarizing the disclosure statements is provided to the board of trustees annually. It is the center's policy that in the event of a conflict the following is done: if there is a conflict relevant to a matter requiring action by the board of trustees, the interested person shall call it to the attention of the board of trustees, and the trustee concerned shall not vote on the matter. Moreover, the person having a conflict shall retire from the room in which the board is meeting and shall not participate in the final deliberation or decision regarding the matter under consideration. When there is doubt as to whether a conflict of interest exists, the matter shall be resolved by vote of the board of trustees or its committee, excluding from the room and the vote the person whose situation will be discussed. When a conflict of interest arises for any staff member except the president, that staff member shall report it to the president in writing. A conflict of interest relating to the president shall be reported in writing to the chair of the board.”

“The center's board of trustees, consisting of independent persons, establishes compensation for the president and reviews the compensation for the other officer(s) and vice presidents on an annual basis. Prior to making compensation decisions, the board obtains information on the compensation of functionally comparable positions for similarly qualified persons at similarly situated organizations and/or benchmark salaries for select positions obtained from salary surveys. Documentation of the deliberations and decisions made are maintained in the minutes in the corporate secretary's office. A full independent compensation review for more than a third of its staff positions was completed in the fall of 2016.”

“The center's audited financial statements and annual report for the past five years are posted on its website and are downloadable. In addition, governance and staffing policies are posted, including the code of conduct (which includes the conflict of interest policy), diversity statement and the executive compensation policy.”

“The center accomplishes its mission by: - operating library/learning centers in five locations-new york city; washington, dc; atlanta; cleveland; and san francisco-that offer free access to information resources and educational programs. - maintaining unique databases of information on more than 140,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities worldwide and over 6.9 million of their recent grants. Its foundation directory online (fdo) subscription service is the most popular means for searching these databases. - providing a content-rich web site with a variety of free search tools, tutorials, downloadable reports, and other information updated daily, including philanthropy news digest, its daily news service. - conducting research and publishing reports on the growth of the foundation field and on trends in foundation support of the nonprofit sector. - coordinating a network of funding information centers nationwide and around the world - more than 450 funding information network (fin) partners that offer free local access to core center resources and training. Established in 1956, the foundation center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The center maintains the most comprehensive database on u.s. And, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants - a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 450 fin partners located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and around the world.”

“Glasspockets: glasspockets champions philanthropic transparency in an online world by providing the data, resources, examples, and action steps foundations need to understand the value of transparency, be more open in their own communications, and help shed more light on how private organizations are serving the public good. In 2016, foundation center revamped the site, building an interactive donor profile that provides instant benchmarks to end users-inspiring glasspockets profile completion and increased contribution of indicator data. In 2016, there were nearly 60,000 users of glasspockets. Foundations report that glasspockets has helped them to design transparency and accountability strategies which have resulted in transparency improvements within their institutions. Eye on the giving pledge: since 2010, 158 of the world's wealthiest individuals and families have joined the giving pledge, publicly declaring their intentions to commit the majority of their assets to philanthropic causes. Glasspockets is keeping an eye on the giving pledge, providing an in-depth picture of the participants, their publicly-known charitable activities, and the potential impact of this collective effort. We continue to update the information available and maintain detailed profiles on those who have signed the pledge. They range in age from 30 to 101 from across 20 countries with a combined net worth of more than $780 billion.”

“Analysis on total management and general expenses the management and general expenses of $6,512,350 include expenses associated with a planned reduction-in-force of $1,382,069 for severance payments, benefits, outplacement services and legal fees. Therefore, management and general expenses less the nonrecurring expense of $1,382,069 for the reduction-in-force equals $5,130,281 which represents approximately 20% of total functional expenses which is less than the 2015 calendar year ratio of approximately 23%.”

“Postretirement changes other than net periodic benefit cost 216,690.”

“The organization did not change either its oversight process or selection process during the tax year.”