Catchlight

“The Chair/Executive Director reviews the returns prior to filing.”

“In 2018, the Board adopted a handbook outlining procedures and policies as well as a code of conduct with: sexual harassment policy, confidentiality agreement, and conflict of interest policy. The organization has implemented development policies and adopted nationally recognized best practices consistent with those described by the National Association of Fundraising Professionals. In the spirit of transparency and community trust, in 2018 CatchLight earned a platinum seal of transparency on the Guide Star website and will continue to update this content year after year to ensure our programs, policies, governance and impact metrics are easily accessible to the public.”

“The Board provides oversight for the compensation of top management based on industry comps. Salary rates are secured by an offer letter.”

“The Organization follows the same process as that of top management.”

“The Organization's tax returns and organizing documents are available upon request.”

“Client Note 1 - Facts and Circumstances StatementSchedule AFacts and Circumstances NarrativeOver the past five years, we have successfully maintained our target goal of ensuring that at least 10% of the our support is from a diverse group of public supporters. The following is a description of the historical activities of CatchLight (the Organization, or CatchLight) and the relevant facts necessary to demonstrate CatchLights satisfaction of the facts and circumstances test, and its qualification thereby as a publicly supported organization under Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The description below is keyed to headings that match the requirements of the test as set out by the regulations governing Section 170 of the Code.A.Attraction of Public Support1.CatchLights solicitation of public supportSince its inception, CatchLight has been dedicated to fulfilling its core mission of promoting social change through visual storytelling. Our activities and staffing levels have fluctuated over the past few years as we experimented with how to best fulfill this mission in the most sustainable manner possible. We have worked to attract support from individual donors in the local communities in which we operate and from among our global audience. Over this time, we have experimented with and engaged in various means of fundraising including individual solicitations, outreach to private foundations, and event sponsorship arrangements. We are currently building on these early successes, and are establishing a robust program for garnering public support with the intention of substantially increasing CatchLights public involvement and further diversifying its funding sources. Accordingly, in 2017, we began to devote more of our resources to expanding our fundraising efforts and support base. In the spring of 2017, CatchLight launched its first formal major donor program for supporters contributing $1,000 to $5,000. The Spring 2017 Appeal engaged many donors, a majority of whom had never contributed to CatchLight before. Eight new donors joined the inaugural CatchLight Visionaries giving circle. Additionally, by the end of 2017, the appeal realized five additional gifts exceeding $1,000. In the fall of 2017, CatchLight rallied the support of more than 200 local and international photographers, industry leaders, students, and community activists at a series of public events that resulted in 20 gifts, the vast majority of which were from donors and audiences new to the Organization. We found similar success through an end of the year appeal that realized 16 additional donors.In September 2017, we hired a full time Director of Philanthropy, and the next month we hired a full-time Development and Operations Coordinator who spends approximately 50% of her time supporting fundraising outreach and development efforts. The team has implemented development policies and adopted nationally recognized best practices consistent with those described by the National Association of Fundraising Professionals. In addition to these internal efforts, we have also hired external communications and marketing contractors (Brazer Communications, Provok, and Media Cause) to help us articulate our mission and improve our public visibility, audience engagement, and community support. We are hoping to build on our additional investment in fundraising talent and our specific goals for 2018 include:?Increase subscription to our major donor program CatchLight Visionaries by demonstrating our value to the community?Build an internal culture of philanthropy, so that all staff, the board of directors, and affiliates feel empowered to speak on behalf of CatchLight and introduce us to others?Improve donor trust by increasing fiscal and organizational transparency through the use of programs and organizations like Guide Star and the Cultural Data Project?Seek partner support to boost social media and general brand recognition. ?Identify long term”