Bruce Museum Inc.

“Bruce museum, inc. Can have the following classes of membership as the board has authorized in the by laws: a) individual membership b) corporate membership (which may include a partnership, trust or other legal entity) c) family membership d) patron membership e) benefactor membership f) robert bruce circle membership each membership in good standing is entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the members. The persons who comprise a family membership - together is entitled to one vote on each matter. A membership may vote in person (through a duly authorized representative in the case of a corporate membership) or by valid proxy. Members are not entitled to receive a share of the organization's profits or excess dues or a share of the organization's net assets upon the organization's dissolution. The board may, from time to time, modify or eliminate classes of membership, may establish other classes of membership, and qualifications and privileges applicable to each membership class.”

“The members of the bruce museum, inc. Elect the trustees, other than the ex-officio trustees, at the annual meeting of the members, by a majority vote of the members entitled to vote who are present in person or by written proxy.”

“Bruce museum, inc. 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. The form 990 is provided to the audit committee for review, comments, and approval. Once the audit committee has approved the return, an electornic copy is distributed to the board and it is filed with the internal revenue service. A hard copy of the return is also distributed at a board meeting.”

“Each trustee must conduct all of his or her activities in such a way as to avoid any conflict between the trustee's personal interests and the policies, operations, or interests of the museum. Trustees with special areas of interest within the museum should understand that advocacy for those interests should be advanced only within the framework of the museum's interests as a whole. In the event a conflict is unavoidable, the trustee shall at all times act in a manner consistent with his or her fiduciary responsibility to the museum and shall exercise particular care that no detriment or appearance of detriment to the museum results from that conflict. A trustee is considered to have a conflict of interest when the trustee, or any member of his or her immediate family: (a) has a financial, personal, or professional interest which impairs or might appear to impair the trustee's independence of judgment in the discharge of his or her responsibilities to the museum. (b) could receive a material financial, personal, or professional benefit from knowledge of confidential museum information. (c) would receive financial compensation for personal or professional services rendered to the museum without the prior approval of the board of trustees. A trustee should not vote on, approve, or recommend approval of a transaction between the museum and that trustee or immediate family member, and should disclose any potential conflict prior to a vote or other action. If such trustee is present when a matter involving a potential conflict of interest is considered, he or she should leave the meeting during that discussion and/or the vote. A trustee should, in general, communicate any administrative or managerial concerns to the chairman of the board of trustees or to the executive director. In no case should a trustee give direction to, or criticize directly, any museum personnel. The staff guidelines are founded on the following general principles: the first loyalty of a staff member is to the museum; conflicts of interest or the appearance thereof must be avoided; a professional staff position must not be used for personal gain; staff should at all times seek to maintain the museum's good name in the community and avoid misuse or disparagement of its name, reputation, property or services; a staff member shall not pursue any course of action indirectly which if done directly would be proscribed by the museum's code of ethics.”

“The executive committee conducts an annual performance review of the executive director. Compensation is based on the employee's performance and comparability data to the industry standards using the american association of museum's salary survey. The board approves the executive director's compensation. The compensation approval is documented in a letter from the board of directors.”

“Form 990 is available on www.guidestar.org, www.charitynavigator.org, and www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com form 990 is also available on our website: brucemuseum.org”

“Financial statements, governing documents, conflict of interest policy, form 990, and form 1023 are made available for public viewing upon written request at bruce museum, inc. Headquarters located at 1 museum drive, greenwich, connecticut, 06830.”

“The museum was built originally as a private home in 1853 and was bequeathed to the town of greenwich, ct in 1908 by textile merchant robert moffat bruce, who stipulated its use as a museum. The first exhibition at the bruce museum took place in 1912 and featured works by local artists known as the greenwich society of artists, several of whom were members of the cos cob art colony. The cos cob school of american painting is now well established as an important part of the history of american art and it forms the nucleus of the museum's holdings of paintings, watercolors, drawings, and notebooks by artists such as leonard and mina ochtman, george wharton edwards, and hobart jacobs. Paralleling an interest in connecticut painters and their works, early directors of the bruce museum pursued the development of the natural sciences, building particular strengths in the mineral and avian collections. The bruce museum was expanded in 1993 and includes nearly 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, comprised of one main gallery, three smaller galleries, and a lecture hall. The museum operates under accreditation by the american association of museums. Successes in 2015-2016 the bruce museum is excited to share its many successes this year, including: -the bruce museum's audience engagement and interpretive services department received two awards for excellence in education - one from the lois bronz children's center and one from the cultural alliance of fairfield county. -highest attendance in over five (5) years, with an increase of 21% from fy 2015 to fy 2016; -the bruce museum received its first ever national science foundation grant, awarded to curator of science, dr. Daniel ksepka, to advance research and outreach related to penguin evolution and new computer programs for creating evolutionary trees. -bruce beginnings, for our toddler visitors reached a record 1,300 in fy 2016; -bruce moose activity packs, designed for independent family exploration of the galleries that are hands-on and interactive were remarketed and are gaining in popularity; -expansion of family program offerings to include drop-in science and art experiences; -the museum was awarded a grant from the state of connecticut to renovate the permanent science galleries in order to provide a 21st century audience with a more learner-centric experience. -the bruce museum seaside center saw an increase of over 15% in attendance. The center reached out to new groups including town camps that visit greenwich point and greenwich young mariners from the boys and girls club. Exhibitions the bruce museum offered a variety art and science exhibitions in 2015-2016 that educated and engaged our diverse, community audience. Each exhibition featured world-class art, objects and artifacts that focused on the needs and interests of our visitors and our surrounding community. The following is a list of the exhibitions from 2015 - 2016: 1. Madagascar: ghosts of the past 2. Walls of color: the murals of hans hofmann 3. Icreate 2015 4. The seven deadly sins: pride 5. Theodore nierenberg: photographs from his world travels 6. Charles harold davis (1856-1933): mystic impressionist 7. Bjorn okholm skaarup: carnival of the animals 8. Secrets of fossil lake 9. Images of the city 10. Fierce and fragile: big cats in the art of robert dallet 11. And still we rise: race, culture and visual conversations 12. Mianus river gorge: photographs by william abranowicz 13. Wild reading: animals in children's book art 14. Electricity 15. Electric paris educational programs the bruce museum's primary goal is to educate our visitors. The museum's audience engagement and interpretive services tailors each learning experience to match our targeted audience segments: families; adult appreciators; schools/educators; and donors/collectors. Highlights from the museum's educational programming in 2015-2016 include the following: - this year marked the first year of the lorraine block docent lecture series. Doce”

“The town of greenwich, connecticut owns the entire museum collection. The organization operates the facility and organizes the exhibits per an agreement with the town of greenwich. The organization provides security for the collection. It also performs restoration and preservation of collection as needed to maintain the collection for exhibition.”

“The independent auditor is selected after a review and bidding process conducted by the audit committee. The audit committee reviews the financial statement and meets with the independent auditors before the audit report and financial statements are issued. Audit findings, if any, are communicated to the audit committee by the independent auditors. Audit committee considers the findings. Audit committee recommends corrective action, if in their judgement it is needed. There have been no changes in the process from the prior year.”