The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area

“Donors who contribute $50 or more are considered to be "members and are invited to vote in the election of the governing board at the annual meeting held in the spring of each year. Otherwise, such "members" have no governing authority.”

“Donors who contribute $50 or more are considered to be "members and are invited to vote in the election of the governing board at the annual meeting held in the spring of each year. Otherwise, such "members" have no governing authority.”

“A draft copy of form 990 with supporting schedules was personally presented by the auditors to the audit committee for their edits and questions. On behalf of the audit committee, the president e-mailed to the full board (all officers and trustees/directors) a final draft of the form 990 and supporting schedules (with schedule b names and addresses redacted), allowing time for their review, comments and/or questions prior to filing.”

“The community foundation strives to maintain the highest ethical standards in all policies, procedures and programs and to avoid any conflicts of interest. Each trustee, officer, member of a committee with board delegated powers and employees, annually signs a statement, which affirms that such person 1) has received a copy of the conflict of interest policy, 2) has read and understands the policy, 3) has agreed to comply with the policy, and 4) understands that the foundation is a charitable organization and that in order to maintain its federal tax exemption, it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes in connection with any direct or indirect financial interest or duality of interest. An interested person must disclose the existence of his/her financial interest or affiliation and all material facts to the trustees and members of the committee with board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement. After disclosure of the financial interest and all material facts, and after any discussion with the interested person, he or she may be requested to leave the board or committee meeting while the determination of conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon. The remaining board or committee members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists.”

“Purpose over and above any legal requirement or public scrutiny, as good stewards of philanthropic resources, the foundation goes the extra mile to be certain that levels of compensation are reasonable. Reasonable is generally defined as what similar persons in similar positions with similar duties at similar organizations are paid. Process 1) each year, the chair of the board sends an electronic evaluation survey and a copy of the president/ceo's responsibilities to all trustees and all staff. 2) all recipients are asked to complete the confidential survey which has questions directly related to the president/ceo's performance and areas of strength and weakness. 3) the board chair collects and condenses the responses into a summary form. 4) the personnel committee serves as the compensation committee (i.e. Disinterested governing board) and will convene, review the performance summary and agree on points to cover during the review. 5) personnel committee obtains and references appropriate data as to comparability prior to making its salary recommendation. Relevant data includes, but is not limited to current compensation surveys compiled by independent sources; for example, the council on foundation's grant maker's salaried benefit reports (published annually), charitable form 990's on guidestar, and nonprofit salary surveys. The committee reviews compensation levels paid by similarly situated organizations for functionally comparable positions and then recommends salary adjustments or bonus payments. 6) documentation of meeting minutes include committee members in attendance and those that voted on it, basic terms of the contract and the date it was approved, the comparability data obtained and relied upon and how the data was obtained, and any actions taken with respect to consideration of the transaction by anyone who may have a conflict of interest with respect to the decision on the compensation. 7) board approves president/ceo's salary adjustment. The annual evaluation was last conducted in december 2021. Members of the board of directors are not compensated. There are no other employees meeting the definition of a key employee. A formal review of all employees is conducted annually. Employees submit organizational goals within their area of responsibility and progress towards those goals in each of the areas discussed. At year-end employees conduct a self-review in the areas of job knowledge, professionalism, efficiency and accuracy, teamwork and initiative. Then the employee's supervisor meets with employees to discuss areas of strength, weakness or suggestions for improvement. The most recent year this process was undertaken was 2021.”

“Governing documents, such as form 1023, articles of incorporation, bylaws, conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy and records retention policy, are available to the public upon request. Audited financial statements and form 990 (and form 990-t, if required) are available on the foundation's website and upon request.”

“In 2021,the community foundation of the holland/zeeland area, along with local partners, launched the strengthening the nonprofit sector campaign which aims to secure $1.7 million in funding to invest in local nonprofits. In november 2021, the community foundation of the holland/zeeland area partnered with michigan state university in an equitable adult vaccine program that aimed to provide covid-19 vaccine access to underserved areas in west michigan.”

“In 2021, the community foundation of the holland/zeeland area concluded the covid-19 community stablization fund response to the global pandemic.”

“Change in value of split-interest agreements -31,875.”

“The audit committee oversight process has not changed from the prior year.”