Southern Delaware Botanic

“Ray sander sheryl swed president exec. Dir. Married”

“The treasurer and the financial manager review the draft 990 in detail with the president. After both the treasurer and the president have approved the draft, the form 990 is reviewed with the exectutive committee, which includes the president,executive director, vice president, secretary, treasurer, director of information technology, and one other board member.”

“The organization requires each member of the board of directors to review and sign a conflict of interest policy statement upon being appointed to the board and annually thereafter.”

“The executive director makes recommendations, then the budget committee makes the initial approval and the full board makes the final approval. No officer receives compensation.”

“The organization's governing documents are available to the public upon request.”

“The delaware botanic gardens at pepper creek strives to exalt nature's beauty, to delight and educate visitors, and to study and preserve the natural ecosystems of sussex coutny and delmarva. The delaware botanic gardnes has created a unique, sustainable, inspirational, and accessible garden for public benefit and enjoyment.”

“The organization allocates a percentage of each employees payroll and employer taxes to a capital asset. Total wages and taxes were 484,194 for 2024, of which, 40,141 was allocated to property and equipment for 2024. Volunteers among the many unique characteristics of the delaware botanic gardens is the central role of volunteers in every facet of the organization from management and oversight to implementation; from garden design to garden planting and maintenance; from board member to garden steward. Highly experienced specialists volunteer, such as information technology director and financial director/treasurer and the volunteer photographer, who is a licensed drone operator whose photos and videos have dramatically captured the historical development and beauty of the gardens. In 2024, the delaware botanic gardens had six paid positions - deputy executive director, director of facilities, financial manager, senior gardener, horticulturalist, and horticultural assistant. In 2024 dbg had 80 active volunteers who donated 17,805 hours. This brings our total volunteer hours from 2014 to 2024 to 165,397 volunteer hours. These volunteer hours are the lifeblood of dbg. These volunteer hours have collectively contributed to more than 4.5 million in the equivalent of staff salaries that dbg would otherwise have had to raise. This estimate is based on the average hourly value for volunteers in delaware as reported by the nonprofit group, independent sector. These hours equate to more than 79 work-years of effort during the period from 2014 to 2024. In 2024, the 17,805 volunteer donated hours were directed to the following activities: - 2,407 - garden planting and maintenance - 2,621 - docent program, including staffing events & tours - 101 - it management and business software development - 1,188 - grant writing and grant management - 251 - photography and videography - 361 - programs - 10,876 - management, including finances, hr, fundraising, marketing and public relations”

“The organization engages an independent cpa firm to perform a compilation, review, or audit at year-end and to prepare the organization's form 990 tax return.”