Charlevoix County Community Foundation

“The President reviews the completed Form 990 for compatibility with the financial audit. The Form 990 is included as an agenda item at the next meeting of the Finance Committee. Each member of the committee receives a copy in advance of the meeting. A recommendation for acceptance is brought to the Board of Trustees with copies made available for the entire Board. The Finance Committee, in its role as the Audit Committee, meets with the auditor to discuss the audit, Form 990, and related financial reports and processes.”

“Each Trustee receives a copy of the Conflict of Interest Policy in their orientation manual, which they review with the President. They are also given a "Trustee Disclosure Statement" to complete and sign. The Disclosure Statement identifies any business or avocational interest, or charitable or civic involvement which might give rise to a possible conflict of interest or duality of interest with the Community Foundation. This process is repeated every year in January. The completed statements are kept on file in the Foundation office. Also on file, are completed Conflict of Interest forms for members of the Youth Advisory Committee, and scholarship selection committee members. During the course of a meeting, a Trustee declares a conflict of interest and abstains from voting on matters that present a potential or perceived conflict. Their abstention is noted in the minutes of the meeting.”

“The Foundation's President is evaluated by the Executive Committee according to a "compensation review process." Using a combination of the evaluation results and information obtained from salary and benefits surveys, the Executive Committee makes a compensation recommendation for the President to the Board of Trustees, the President is not present during the discussion, nor does he participate in the vote.”

“The Foundation adheres to the "Recommended Best Practices in Determining Reasonable Executive and Staff Compensation" as put forth by the Council of Foundations. Generally, reasonable compensation is defined as what similar persons in similar positions with similar duties in similar organizations are paid. To determine reasonable levels of compensation the Foundation relies on salary and compensation surveys, and comparisons with similar organizations in relative geographic proximity, specifically, we use information obtained from:-The Council on Foundation's Annual Grantmakers Salary and Benefits Report.-The Council on Foundation's Annual Compensation, Summary for the Council of Michigan Foundations - Community Foundations.The proceedings of all committee and board meetings are documented in writing and filed with the Foundation's permanent records. The compensation determination process and salary and benefits research occurs in the last quarter of the fiscal year. Board approved salary and benefit payments begin with the start of the next fiscal year.The President is responsible for evaluating and recommending compensation for staff following the same process used to determine the President's compensation. The President and staff are the only employees/officers of the Foundation that receive compensation.”

“It is the policy and practice of the Foundation to comply with all Internal Revenue Service laws and requirements for public disclosure for tax-exempt organizations. This includes providing copies of our exemption application (Form 1023), and the three most recently filed annual information returns (Form 990) to individuals making a request in person or in writing. Form 990 and the financial statements are also available on the Foundation's website. The Foundation's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statmeents are available upon request to the Foundation President.”