Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Hudson

“The board of directors must maintain an executive committee and finance committee. The board of directors, by resolution adopted by a majority of the directors, may designate and appoint one or more additional committees, each of which shall consist of one or more directors; and, at the discretion of the board of directors, such persons who are not directors. Such committees, to the extent provided in said resolution, shall have and exercise the authority of the board of directors in the management of the corporation, except no such committee may exercise the authority of management of the board of directors in reference to the following matters: - filling vacancies on or increasing or decreasing the members of the board of directors or any committee of the board of directors; - adoption, amendment, or repeal of the bylaws or the articles of incorporation.”

“The foundation worked closely with an independent public accounting firm engaged to prepare the form 990. The draft form 990 prepared by the accounting firm was reviewed and approved by the foundation's treasurer. The return was then presented to the audit committee for their review. Subsequent to the committee's approval, a complete copy of the form 990 was provided to all voting members prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“The foundation maintains a conflict of interest and ethics statement as provided by the make-a-wish foundation of america for each officer, employee, board member, and volunteer. Such statements must be signed upon date of hire, election, or commencement of volunteer service, and at least annually thereafter. The signed statements are then submitted to and reviewed by the volunteer coordinator if they are from volunteers, management if the statements are from staff, and the president/ceo if the statements are from the board members. Review of the statements is monitored by the director of program services and operations. The procedures for addressing any conflicts of interest of which the president/ceo becomes aware includes, but are not limited to the following (1) determining the nature of the conflict via verbal or written communication with the interested person, (2) fully disclosing conflicting interests to the board, (3) the conflicted person recuses himself/herself from deliberations and decisions regarding the transaction, and (4) taking appropriate actions warranted by the conflict as recommended by the board up to and including termination of service.”

“The board chair along with the executive committee reviewed compensation studies. The study broke down ceo compensation for comparable chapters. In addition, the board was asked to complete performance evaluations for the ceo and those results were summarized by the board chair and communiciated with the chapter ceo. After discussion with the board, the ceo's compensation was approved, documented, and directed the chapter to make the adjustment. This process was last completed in fiscal 2024.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available upon request.”

“It is the founding principle of our vision to grant the wish of every eligible child, between the ages of 2 1/2 and 18. For wish kids, just the act of making their wish come true can give them the courage to comply with their medical treatments. With our wish making process, we strive to bring a sense of excitement and hope during extremely difficult times and deliver a joyful life changing experience whether the wish is a princess party, swim with the dolphins, or the countless other possibilities dreamed up by the magical mind of a child. The make-a-wish foundation of hudson valley granted 142 life changing wishes in the fiscal year ending august 31, 2024. The total cost of wishes granted for the fiscal year was $2,320,921. Of this amount, $176,681 was contributed by various vendors who provided in-kind contributions such as travel and travel services, transportation, lodging, and other services and use of facilities to complete a child's wish. For financial statement purposes, these amounts are included as contribution revenue and granted wish expense. For form 990, however, the irs requires this amount be excluded from both revenue and expense.”