Future Heights

“Prior to filing, the form 990 is presented to the executive director, board treasurer and finance staff for review and approval. The form 990 is then electronically distributed to the board of directors in advance of filing. The board president signs the 990 (or 8879-eo) and the 990 is electronically filed.”

“Each year, the board members are asked to review the organization's conflict of interest policy. Among other things, the policy makes clear that all decisions of the board, officers, and employees of the organization are made solely on the basis of a desire to promote the best interest of the organization and the public good. The conflict of interest statement requests board members to identify to the best of their knowledge affiliations with organizations that may be potentially related to the financials or other substantive operations of the organization. They are also asked to identify circumstances involving either themselves, or a member of their extended family, that may be construed as a conflict of interest. At the staff level, the organization's personnel also ensure that there are no conflicts of interest when considering the engagement of a new vendor. If a potential conflict is identified, appropriate steps are taken to both assess the nature of the potential conflict and, subsequently, to ensure that the possibility of an actual conflict is mitigated. Such mitigation is managed and the letter and spirit of the conflicts policy are upheld.”

“The executive committee annually evaluates the performance of the executive director. Compensation is based on performance and compared to other area mission-comparable organizations of similar size. The board has adopted the irs-written "rebuttable presumption" checklist which is completed contemporaneous with the performance review. Compensation for staff within the organization is determined by the executive director. The level of compensation is set based on performance and in relation to other area mission-comparable organizations of similar size. This compensation is a component of the budget, which is reviewed and approved by the finance committee and also by the board as a whole.”

“The organization's governing documents, form 1023, form 990 conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public upon request. The form 990, without schedule b) can also be found on several publicly-accessible websites.”

“Our civic engagement committee remains as committed as ever to addressing the topics that most concern and interest our residents through informative, free public forums and administering our neighborhood leadership workshop series and mini-grants program. Our dedication to public discourse remains strong as the heights observer celebrated its 10th anniversary with a banner year that supported our neighborhood voices and local businesses, with work from the past 10 years sharing space with the issues dear to many residents' hearts today. In september of this past year, we solidified a formal partnership with the city of cleveland heights as the city's official community development corporation, which includes a city investment to help us implement our new housing programs and real estate development projects in 2019. Futureheights' robust planning & development committee has supported workshops to support our small business community and facilitated relationships with ethical developers, city staff, and others in order to support the growth and stabilization of our market. The committee has built on past momentum in the cedar lee business district to move the cedar lee mini-park project forward, as well as to support engagement for the development project at lee and meadowbrook-both of which will be high priorities as we move into 2019. This strong committee, with help from greater cleveland congregations, was able to garner a 70,000 grant from us bank in order to initiate a focused planning study for the noble road corridor-a much needed study that will support the important noble neighborhood of cleveland ceights. Through the sixth annual heights music hop, we were able to bring out more than 8,500 people to enjoy free music, excellent food, and to remember how great being in the heights is.”

“The mission of the heights observer is to serve as a self-sustaining media outlet that strengthens the communities of cleveland heights and university heights. Our goals: to be a community advocate to be a catalyst for public discourse to keep residents informed to promote citizen involvement to reflect diversity and improve the overall quality of life for residents to be a resource for the local, independent businesses that are central to the community's unique and vibrant character the heights observer serves cleveland heights and university heights as a forum for members of the community to write about and discuss local issues, ideas, events and other goings on that people who live here want to discuss. It seeks to encourage community engagement, transparency in governance and an appreciation for the qualities that make the community desirable to those who live here. A copy of our mission is available here. The heights observer is published by the nonprofit futureheights. The futureheights board of directors is responsible for maintaining the observers financial sustainability and adherence to its basic role as a community soapbox. The board is served in this function by the heights observer advisory committee. The heights observer advisory committee is made up of individuals from the community and is chaired (or co-chaired) by a member of the futureheights board. The committee exists to assure community representation and transparency in the ongoing operation of the heights observer. In that role, it discusses and makes recommendations to the board and publisher on issues including: editorial policy operating processes financial and operating sustainability projects, partnerships, affiliations and initiatives other issues as they arise the size and makeup of the advisory committee is not specifically defined, but includes a board-member chair and the publisher/futureheights executive director. Members of the committee will generally meet the following requirements: resident of one of the communities served (cleveland heights and university heights) a current or previous contributor to the heights observer project in some capacity (writer, editor, distribution volunteer, specialized advisor, etc.) interested in the heights observer project as defined above a practitioner in civility and civil discourse able and willing, given reasonable advance notice, to attend committee meetings, generally held on weekday evenings, as often as once a month able and willing to participate actively in projects or initiatives that may be undertaken as a result of committee discussion”

“Sales commission 22,650 0 0 community building 4,813 0 0 other 3,725 0 0 equip maint and repair 2,881 155 62 event expenses 0 0 1,386 bad debt 131 0 0 total 34,200 155 1,448”

“Prior period adjustment 11,882”

“2018 is the first year the organization recived indpendent assurance services.”