Readers Digest Partners for Sight Foundation

“Reader's digest partners for sight foundation has its form 990 prepared by an outside accounting firm and has established the following review process to ensure that the information reported is complete and accurate. After the form 990 has been prepared, it is reviewed by the audit committee. Comments are sent to the outside accountants, and revisions are made, if necessary. The form 990 is then electronically sent to the board members for review and commenting. Any comments are then grouped, summarized and then provided to the outside accountants. Each issue is documented and addressed until the return is finalized and approved for filing.”

“Board members, officers, and key persons are required to read the conflict of interest policy, and fill out the form on a yearly basis, denoting any possible conflicts of interest. The executive director collects the forms and shares the information with the board chair. If a conflict were to arise, the full board is notified. When a possible conflict of interest becomes relevant to the making of a grant or to any matter requiring action of the board, the board member or staff member shall call it to the attention of the board, shall not attempt to exert personal influence in connection therewith, and in the case of a board member, shall not vote on such matter. Any board member who is excluded from voting because of such possible conflict of interest may briefly state his/her position in the matter and answer pertinent questions from other board members when the board member's knowledge of the matter will assist the board in its deliberations. Said board member shall not be present at or participate in board or committee deliberation, and the existence and resolution of any conflict shall be documented in the foundation's records.”

“The executive committee of the board also serves as the compensation committee. In may 2019, the executive committee began the process of working with a compensation analysis and management firm to review for the reasonableness of the compensation for both the executive director and grant program manager. The study was concluded and based on the study, the executive committee approved an increase in compensation for the executive director from her current salary to $211,000. This went into effect in august 2019. The board was notified of the process and the decision.”

“The organization makes its form 990 available for public inspection as required under section 6104 of the internal revenue code. It is posted on new york state attorney general website, guidestar.org and other similar types of websites. In addition, the conflict of interest policy, articles of incorporation and by-laws are also available upon written request at 118 north bedford road, room 100, mt. Kisco, ny 10549 or by calling the organization directly at 914-517-7570.”

“Reader's digest partners for sight foundation provides monetary support to organizations which provide direct services to people who are blind or visually impaired. Our support enables these organizations to serve blind and visually impaired persons of all ages, and at various stages of their vision loss by providing skills training in, for example, activities of daily living, orientation and mobility, assistive technology, guide dog usage, low vision rehabilitation, literacy and braille. Support is also offered for organizations providing career, vocational, recreation and youth-in-transition programs for blind and visually impaired people. Rdpfs also provides support for assistive technology resources list, as well as outreach to low vision organizations serving blind and visually impaired individuals. We also provide support for programs designed to improve doctor/patient communication in the ophthalmic field, with the aim of increasing referrals into the low vision rehabilitation system. Rdpfs has a thorough grant proposal and outcome evaluation process which helps ensure the success of the funded programs. Rdpfs also provides a large print publishing service to people who have trouble reading standard sized print. The select editions large type periodical currently has over 47,000 subscribing members. Each yearly subscription includes 5 volumes, with two stories per volume. Subscribers also receive a large print calendar each year, with information on currently available low vision services.”

“The organization has a committee that assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of an independent accountant. This process did not change from the prior year.”