Charitable Allies Inc.

“Zachary kester, has several business relationships with other directors of charitable allies through his work with the organization. Ascent 121 is also a client of charitable allies. Matt mcintire is the ceo of brackets for good, which is a client of charitable allies. Rima shahid is the executive director of women4change of indiana, which is a client of charitable allies. Tina cloer is the ceo of children's bureau a/k/a firefly children & family alliance. It is important for charitable allies to have client representation on its board and these are such representatives.”

“Each member of the board of directors is given a copy of the 990 prior to filing so that they may review and provide feedback.”

“Board members are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest at each board meeting and are subject to sanctions for failure to disclose a potential conflict. Prior to electing any board member, the executive director reviews any past employment history that may be a conflict of interest. The excutive director also looks into any change of employment or outside activities for conflicts when these things occur.”

“Comparability data was examined thoroughly when determining the executive director's compensation. The board also reviewed and approved the compensation structure for the executive director and the board reviews any raise or bonus structure for the executive director as well.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are not currently available to the public.”

“Description of services and explanation of public charity status: charitable allies (ca) serves tax-exempt organizations and/or their key stakeholders (i.e., members, officers, directors, trustees, or donors) with annual gross receipts at or below $10 million or assets with a value below $100 million. If a potential client's revenue and assets exceed these levels, ca will only represent that organization if: (1) it lacks liquid assets to pay legal counsel generally; (2) if other law firms with deep tax-exempt organization experience were conflicted off of representation; (3) if the client only needs the services of ca as "back up or support counsel to their general counsel law firm or in-house counsel; or (4) the client can demonstrate, through some other compelling factor, that it is a member of a charitable class. The provision of legal and educational services as described on page 2, part iii, lines 4a and 4b is charitable because the clients themselves serve tax-exempt purposes; they lack adequate representation in the private sector and are generally unable to pay market rates for sophisticated, unique exempt-organization legal services that require specialized knowledge; and they are so numerous and indefinite that aiding them benefits the whole community and not private interests. Ca's essential purpose is to serve a charitable class made up of tax-exempt orgs (below a certain size or otherwise needy) and their stakeholders in helping them fulfill their exempt purpose. Ca provides these services generally at reduced rates (low bono - calculated as at or below 50% of fmv) and sometimes for free. Ca does not compete with other private law firms. The most comparable are (1) and exempt organization (eo) group within a large law firm; (2) a boutique law firm that focuses on eo representation; and (3) a small law firm that provides eo legal services mostly to clients who are unable to afford the market rates of the firms described in (1) and (2). However, most attorneys and/or firms in group (3), as well as some in groups (1) and (2), lack the depth of eo experience and knowledge of the attorneys at ca; and they are distinguishable on the grounds that they are not subject to nonprofit governance requirements and restrictions on ownership that apply to nonprofit law firms. Ca management answers to a board of directors. Salaries for attorneys are set using comparable rates paid to lawyers in other types of nonprofit work; and attorneys do not share in the ownership or successes of ca except through a modest, pre-approved, fixed bonus structure not tied to legal service revenue. Attorneys operating in for-profit law firms do not have these restrictions. Ultimately, ca charges rates that are based on the clients limited ability to pay. Ca is also frugal in infrastructure and materials costs and pays a lower salary than the private sector. Many of the staff attorneys take advantage of income-based repayment and loan forgiveness programs for school loans. Ca does not aim to compete with private, for-profit lawyers. Its work is providing a service to clients that attorneys in private practice cannot afford to represent. Ca ultimately provides services that require a high level of knowledge and skill and its work is designed to help its clients do their tax-exempt work and to operate more effectively. The word "specialized" is used above in the rule of ethics 1.1 competency sense, not in the rule 7.2 sense.”

“The board of directors is responsible for the selection, monitoring and evaluation of an independent audit firm and oversight of the audit of its financial statements. There was no change in this process from the prior year.”