National Constitution Center

“The 990 worksheets are prepared by the vp of finance in conjunction with the preparation of the audited financial statements. The worksheets are sent to the return preparers (an independent public accounting firm) to be processed. A draft of the 990 is sent to the organization, the vp of finance and the coo for review and approval. Once internal review and approval is completed, the 990 is sent to the audit committee. The audit committee of the board of trustees reviews the documents and a conference call is scheduled to discuss the 990. The participants include the members of the audit committee, the ceo, the coo, the vp of finance and the return preparers. The audit committee modifies or approves the 990. The chairman of the audit committee sends the draft to the board of trustees with the recommendation from him and the audit committee for approval. The board of trustees has one week to comment. Any comments from the board are considered by the audit committee and staff, after which, if changes are made, the approval process is repeated. If no changes are made or if no comments are received, the 990 is considered approved and is filed with the irs.”

“The national constitution center has a conflict of interest policy. A copy of the policy and the questionnaire are given to all new employees and newly elected trustees during their orientation period. Annually, the policy and questionnaire are sent to all trustees, employees and volunteer trustees, employees and volunteers have one month to complete the questionnaire and send the completed forms back to the center. The chief compliance officer (cco) follows up with any employee who failed to submit his/her form. Trustees are also sent reminders; the cco and vp of finance review all questionnaires to determine if any conflicts exist. The results of the annual questionnaire responses are discussed with the audit committee. Significant conflicts, if any, are brought to the committee's attention. The audit chairman makes the determination if the conflict is significant enough to warrant full board review. Significant conflicts are then brought to the board of trustees who determines a course of action based upon the conflict of interest policy.”

“The ceo of the national constitution center is hired by the board of trustees. Typically, a search committee is formed to conduct the search process. Additionally, a professional executive search firm is also engaged to facilitate the search process. This committee is a temporary sub-committee of the executive committee and includes the chairman of the executive committee, appointed trustees and appropriate staff (ie coo). Once a ceo has been identified, a contract is prepared by the center's general counsel. The search committee, who acts as the center's "independent persons" recommends the ceo's compensation based on the following criteria: comparable data - what was the former ceo's compensation and what are like organizations ceo's compensation. Contemporaneous substantiation - data is collected and documented during this process. The ceo's contract, which includes compensation, is presented to the executive committee by the search committee. In executive session the contract is approved by the executive committee. The executive committee then presents the contract to the full board of trustees for approval. Compensation procedure for top management: the ceo and the coo hire the organization's top management team. The national constitution center hired a consultant to develop a salary administration program which is broken down into position levels with corresponding salary ranges. Compensation is determined by a potential employee's qualifications and referring to the appropriate position level within the salary administration program.”

“The national constitution center makes all governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public by providing copies upon request.”