Rainforest Alliance Inc.

“The Organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to the public upon written request to management. In addition, the Organization's audited financial statements, 990's, conflict of interest and whistleblower policies, and summaries of all of its policies and procedures to ensure independence, are available on its Website.”

“THE ORGANIZATION HAS DEVELOPED SALARY ADMINISTRATION GUIDELINES (THE "GUIDELINES") THAT APPLY IN SETTING THE COMPENSATION OF ALL OF ITS EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING ITS PRESIDENT, OFFICERS, AND KEY EMPLOYEES. UNDER THE GUIDELINES, THE ORGANIZATION UTILIZES SEVERAL SALARY SURVEYS WITH SIMILARLY SIZED, INTERNATIONAL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO ENSURE THAT ITS SALARIES ARE WITHIN THE RANGE OF THOSE OF COMPARABLE ORGANIZATIONS. GENERALLY, THE MIDPOINT OF THE ORGANIZATION'S SALARY RANGES FALLS WITHIN THE SALARY RANGE AVERAGES OF COMPARABLE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. PERFORMANCE REVIEWS ARE THEN USED TO ESTABLISH AN INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE'S COMPENSATION WITHIN THE RANGE SET BY COMPARABILITY DATA. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPROVES MODIFICATION OF COMPENSATION THAT EXTENDS TO SUBSTANTIALLY ALL EMPLOYEES. THE GUIDELINES ALSO REQUIRE THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO REVIEW AND APPROVE SEPARATELY THE COMPENSATION OF THE PRESIDENT AND SENIOR Vice President of Finance and Administration/CFO, UNLESS SUCH INDIVIDUALS RECEIVE A MODIFICATION OF COMPENSATION THAT EXTENDS TO SUBSTANTIALLY ALL EMPLOYEES. THE TREASURER OF THE ORGANIZATION DOES NOT RECEIVE ANY COMPENSATION, AND IS THEREFORE NOT SUBJECT TO ANY REVIEW. IN 2011, WE ENGAGED THE MERCER GROUP, EXPERTS IN COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS ANALYSIS, TO CONDUCT A GLOBAL REVIEW OF OUR PAY PRACTICES AND TO DEVELOP COMPETITIVE DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL SALARY RANGES FOR POSTIONS WITHIN OUR AFFILIATES AND BRANCHES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. IN 2014, WE ENGAGED MERCER CONSULTING TO REVISE THE SALARY RANGES THEY HAD PREPARED FOR US IN 2011. WE WILL USE THE REVISED RANGES TO ENSURE THE APROPRIATE LEVELS OF GLOBAL MARKET COMPETITIVENESS.”

“The Rainforest Alliance has an executive committee consisting of seven directors of the Board of Directors (the "Board"). Pursuant to the Bylaws, the Chairman of the Board serves as the Chairman of the executive committee. During the time between Board meetings, the executive committee can exercise all powers of the Board that may be delegated in connection with the management of the business affairs and property of Rainforest Alliance,except as restricted by law or the Certificate of Incorporation. The Executive Committee meets at the discretion of the Chairman of the Board and reports all actions to the Board.”

“Updated By-Laws The Organization updated their by-laws during FY2014.”

“A copy of our conflict of interest policy, along with a conflict of interest disclosure statement, is furnished to each director, officer and staff member of the rainforest alliance upon undertaking the duties of such office, and annually thereafter for the term of such person's service to the organization. Any disclosures are reviewed by an internal committee made up of the president, senior vice president, finance & administration/cfo and the general counsel, and are reported on a quarterly basis to the audit and risk committee. The audit and risk committee has among its responsibilities the duty of reviewing and making determinations with respect to all transactions, agreements, or arrangements involving directors, officers, and key employees. In addition, a detailed form 990 disclosure statement is distributed annually to members of the committee that awards kleinhans fellowships and the rainforest alliance's directors, officers and key employees. It requests disclosures that are required to be reported on form 990 about any transactions between the organization and those who serve it in various volunteer and paid capacities, and about any transactions among those persons.”

“The senior vice president, finance and administration/cfo initially reviews the organization's draft form 990. The general counsel reviews the draft 990 with respect to any questions involving legal matters. The draft form 990 is distributed to each of the organization's officers and directors in advance of filing. Each officer and director is asked to review the draft form 990,and raise any questions or comments. The senior vice president, finance and aministration/cfo oversees any revisions before the final form 990 is filed.”

“There are certain countries in which Rainforest Alliance operates that mandate employer contributions for pension benefits and for the cost of the health care for employees that are citizens of that country. These are paid as part of the employer taxes and contributions. Given that the amount is part of payroll taxes, RA has included these as expenses as other employee benefits in the statement of functional expenses.”

“The Organization filed form 8832 for disregarded entity status with respect to all its foreign subsidiaries. The Internal Revenue Service has approved the election for treatment of disregarded entity status on the following entites: Rainforest Alliance LTD (UK) - EIN # 98-1051166 Rainforest Alliance Trading LTD (UK)- EIN # 98-1069583 Rainforest Alliance (Ghana) - EIN # - 98-1051463 Foundation Rainforest Alliance (Spain) - EIN # 98-1051394 The Organization did not receive a determination with respect to the remaining foreign subsidiaries. The Organization will continue to treat them as foreign disregarded entities and file form 8858.”

“Founded in 1987, the Rainforest Alliance's mission is to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods through transforming land-use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior. We envision a world where people can thrive and prosper in harmony with the land. The core of our approach lies in leveraging market demand for sustainable products to conserve biodiversity and enhance local livelihoods. From large multinational corporations to small, community-based cooperatives, we involve producers, businesses and consumers all along the value chain in efforts to bring responsibly produced goods and services to a global marketplace where demand for sustainability is growing steadily. Since our first efforts in Central America nearly 30 years ago, we have grown into a global innovator of market-based solutions for conservation and economic development, now working in more than 80 countries. The Rainforest Alliance works in multiple sectors - including forestry, agriculture, tourism and carbon/climate - providing technical assistance and certification services to producers, while working with both local enterprises and domestic and international buyers to increase the competitiveness of sustainable business. RA-Cert Program Central to RA's strategy is certification. We certify to a range of international standards for best practice (the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard; the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standard, and the Rainforest Alliance's own green frog seal is an internationally recognized symbol of environmental, social and economic sustainability. In order for a farm or forestry enterprise to achieve certification, or for a tourism business to be verified, it must meet rigorous standards designed to protect ecosystems, safeguard the well-being of local communities and improve productivity. The Rainforest Alliance then links these farmers, foresters and tourism businesses to the growing global community of conscientious consumers through the green frog seal. We also work with partners in the public and private sectors to strengthen voluntary carbon markets, and we verify emissions reductions and validate carbon projects using internationally recognized certification standards for carbon (the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS); and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) standard. The Rainforest Alliance works with governments, businesses, NGOs, farmers and foresters around the world to incentivize the conservation and restoration of high-value forest. Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry (TREEs) Programs At the same time, we recognize that certification on its own is not enough to help many small, community-run agricultural and forestry operations confront the broad array of issues they face. To this end, we work with such enterprises to improve internal management, diversify production, increase efficiencies, develop permanent business administration capacity and access new markets. Our work with local partners has proven that communities can conserve biodiversity on farms and in the forest while improving local livelihoods. Other Programs Climate Program The Rainforest Alliance's Climate Program works in three main areas - mitigation, adaptation and, as mentioned above in the RA-Cert section, validation & verification. Our mitigation approach, which works to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) builds upon our sustainable forestry work to engage practices that conserve and enhance forest resources and carbon values over the long term. RA's flagship REDD+ effort in this regard is GuateCarbon, situated in the Maya Biosphere Reserve of Guatemala. Once validated, GuateCarbon will be the first REDD+ effort globally based on certified community forestry. To help farmers adapt to climate change, our approach leverages the Sustainable Agriculture Network certification standard and its accompanying Climate Module - a replicable, scalable and verifiable frame”

“Bolivia Canada Costa Rica Ecuador Ghana Guatemala Indonesia Kenya Mexico Peru United Kingdom”

“Description:ra cert & other consultants total fees:5790510”