Living Branches

“The living branches board of directors adopted several changes to its bylaws on may 24, 2016. The amended bylaws state that at least two-thirds of the directors shall be members of a mennonite congregation and the remaining one-third may be members of other christian congregations. Previously all directors were to come from members of a mennonite church usa congregation of which at least 25%, but no less than two, were to be approved by the franconia mennonite conference. The amended bylaws also implemented a limit of five, three-year terms for directors.”

“At least 25 percent of the directors of living branches, but no less than two of the directors, shall be approved by the franconia mennonite conference of the mennonite church usa.”

“The 990 is reviewed by the chief executive officer and chief financial officer upon completion by the tax preparers. The 990 is then presented to the executive committee of the board of directors. A copy of the return is provided to all board members prior to filing.”

“Living branches, the parent organization, has a written conflict of interest policy by which all officers, directors, and key employees of its affiliates must abide. The conflict of interest policy is reviewed and signed annually by all board members and officers. The board chairman reviews the signed statements and oversees the procedures for ensuring any potential conflicts are resolved according to the written policy. Any interested party to a conflict will remove him or herself from any discussions and/or decisions based on the conflict. The conflict policy specifically states that family and or business relationships with other board members may constitute a potential or actual conflict.”

“Living branches is a respected leader in continuing care, serving culturally and economically diverse older adults and families. To support achievement of the mission to continue providing services to older adults and families across a wide range of circumstances and to grow the service programs, the board of directors recognizes the critical importance of employing highly qualified senior staff to lead and direct the organization. In order to attract and retain the best leadership talent essential to fulfilling the mission and achieving financial performance necessary to sustain and grow the organization, the living branches board of directors adopted a compensation program for its senior executive leaders. The compensation program is designed to: provide competitive benefits and total cash compensation compared to similarly sized and similarly structured continuing care retirement communities; align expected executive staff performance with the mission, strategic objectives and operational goals of the organization; motivate high performance and recognize shared contributions in a highly competitive and regulated environment; recognize and incentivize the stability of the executive leadership team. The compensation program is intended to comply with irs regulations and applies specifically to the chief executive officer (ceo) who is hired, directed and evaluated by the board of directors. Other covered senior management staff under the irs guidelines include senior management persons who report directly to the ceo and may substantially influence the finances of the organization. In living branches structure, this includes the position of chief financial & technology officer. The compensation plan, while focused on the ceo position, provides guidance for the ceo to establish the compensation for other executive leaders in living branches. Competitive wage information for the compensation plan is sourced from continuing care retirement community (ccrc) compensation surveys, primarily the chief executives of multi-facility organizations (cemo) leadership compensation survey. In addition, the leadingage salary and benefits report and the leadingage pa regional salary survey are reviewed. The covered executive positions have an established salary range with a threshold, midpoint and maximum salary. The ranges are reviewed annually with the comparative data sources and are established by the executive committee of the board of directors. The target (or midpoint) salary for a fully qualified living branches executive is generally at the 75th percentile for similarly sized organizations from the comparative data sources. Compensation increases for the covered positions are approved by the executive committee of the board of directors upon the completion of annual performance appraisals and in accordance with the compensation plan. The executive committee documents its discussions and conclusions in executive committee meeting minutes.”

“The organization makes its articles of incorporation, bylaws, conlfict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“The filing entity is the parent in a group of non-profit entities for which it is considered a common pay agent for w-2 reporting. Living branches reports all employees on its form w-3, however, each affiliate has employees allocated to that entity. Per irs instructions, employees listed on part v, line 2a are those who have been deemed to be employees of this organization. The following affiliates have w-2 employees listed on their forms 990 that have been reported on the filing organization's w-3: hatfield mennonite homes, inc. 23-1429826 souderton mennonite homes, inc. 23-1433891 dock manor, inc. 23-2136450 dock village, inc. 23-2136449 dock acres, inc. 23-2233514 living branches foundation, another affiliate, does not report any employees on its return.”