Global Blood Fund

“Form 990, part iii, line 4 gbf's activity remained mission-centric during 2019, continuing to expand in terms of the number of transactions and activities, geographic regions supported, and partners engaged. Gbfs traditional approach to training - assembling international delegates and facilitators for program events staged in a central education facility - was becoming too logistically problematic and expensive. A decision was made to switch to distance learning and considerable resources during 2019 were devoted to developing content and the delivery platform, which are scheduled to be ready for a 2020 launch. Unusually, gbf departed from the established practice of donating pre- owned equipment and contributed significantly towards the purchase of a spectra optia hemapheresis machine for a hospital in benin city, nigeria. This enabled novel therapies to become available in that region, including red cell exchange and stem cell transplantation, and this donation offered significant healthcare benefits not deliverable in any other manner. A major overhaul of the gbf website began in 2019, with delivery and relaunch anticipated in 2020.”

“FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4D DEFINING THE U.S. BLOOD SUPPLY CHAIN THESE FUNDS WERE PROVIDED BY COMMONWEALTH TRANSFUSION FOUNDATION (CTF) FOR SIMA FORESCH, A UNIVERSITY PHD. SIMA FORESCH WAS COMMISSIONED TO RESEARCH AND WRITE AN ACADEMIC GRADE REPORT. SHE TRAVELED TO AND RESEARCHED THE OPERATION OF LIFESERVE BLOOD CENTER IN DES MOINES, IA AS A FOUNDATION ELEMENT OF HER ANALYSIS. IN AUGUST 2020, SHE SUBMITTED A 27-PAGE PARTIAL DRAFT ENTITLED "STRATEGIC VULNERABIILTY OF THE BLOOD SUPPLY CHAIN." THE FINAL DRAFT IS EXPECTED IN DECEMBER 2020. SHE ALSO OFFERED UP A DRAFT POWERPOINT PRESENTATION IN ANTICIPATION OF HER SCHEDULED SESSION AT THE CTF "EMERGING TOPIC IN BLOOD BANKING" CONFERENCE SLATED TO BE HELD IN SEPTEMBER 2020 IN JACKSON HOLE, WY. TRAINING AND EDUCATION DURING 2019, GBF COMMENCED A SIGNIFICANT RE-ENGINEERING OF ITS TRAINING APPROACH, NAMELY CONSTRUCTION OF AN ONLINE EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR BLOOD DONOR RECRUITERS WORKING IN LOW-INCOME SETTINGS. THIS WAS INITIATED IN RESPONSE TO THE HIGH COSTS AND LOGISTICAL DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN BRINGING INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS TOGETHER FOR FACE-TO-FACE EVENTS. SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS FROM ACROSS AFRICA WERE ENGAGED TO WRITE A TOTAL OF 12 HALF-HOUR NARRATED VIDEO MODULES. THESE MODULES WILL BE CLOUD-BASED AND, WHEN LAUNCHED IN 2020, WILL PROVIDE FREE ACCESS TRAINING FOR PRACTITIONERS ACROSS AFRICA AND BEYOND. GBF HAS PARTNERED WITH THE AFRICA SOCIETY FOR BLOOD TRANSFUSION AND THE ASSOCIATION OF DONOR RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS TO ENDORSE AND PROMOTE THE SERIES. THOSE ENGAGING WITH THE CONTENT WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE THE COURSE FOR INTEREST / SELF-IMPROVEMENT ONLY, OR ALTERNATIVELY TAKE THE CERTIFICATION ROUTE, WHICH REQUIRES CORRECTLY ANSWERING QUESTIONS RELATED TO EACH MODULE TO PROVE THAT A LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING AND COMPETENCE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED. EXPANSION OF PARTNERSHIP NETWORK MUCH OF GBF'S ACTIVITY RELATES TO ITS ABILITY TO CREATE AND GALVANIZE NETWORKS IN THE U.S. AND EUROPE (NATIONAL AND REGIONAL BLOOD SERVICES, INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS, REGULATORY BODIES, ETC.) TO ASSIST DEVELOPING-WORLD BLOOD COLLECTION ORGANIZATIONS. WORKING BOTH DIRECTLY AND THROUGH PAN-NATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, GBF IS ABLE TO ASSEMBLE MULTI-AGENCY COLLABORATIONS WITH OBJECTIVES AND CONFIGURATIONS DIFFERING BY PROJECT. FOR EXAMPLE, DURING THE PERIOD GBF RE-INVIGORATED AND RE-BRANDED A YOUTH DONOR RETENTION PROGRAM CALLED "PLEDGE 25 CLUB". THERE WAS A FORMAL LAUNCH AT THE AFRICAN SOCIETY FOR BLOOD TRANSFUSION (AfSBT) CONGRESS IN TANZANIA WITH FORMAL ENDORSEMENT BY AfSBT. A NEWLY PUBLISHED "HOW-TO" BOOK WAS WIDELY DISTRIBUTED TO COUNTRIES ACROSS AFRICA, DIGITAL TOOLS WERE PROMOTED, AND A GENERAL OFFER OF SUPPORT WAS MADE. THE TRAINING COMMENCED IN UGANDA DURING 2019 AND ACHIEVED POSITIVE RESULTS, WHICH HAS LEAD TO A PIPELINE OF OTHER INTERESTED COUNTRIES. GBF WORKED CLOSELY WITH THE PAN AMERICA HEALTH ORGANIZATION (PAHO) TO STRUCTURE THE SECONDMENT OF A U.S. BLOOD BANKING PROFESSIONAL TO ASSIST NATIONAL BLOOD PROGRAMS; FIRST IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, THEN EL SALVADORE. UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO EXTERNAL FACTORS, THE ARRANGEMENTS COULD NOT BE COMPLETED, BUT GBF WAS PLEASED TO ADD PAHO TO THE LIST OF MAJOR ORGANIZATIONS WITH WHICH IT ENJOYS CORDIAL RELATIONS. "OPEN ARMS" PROGRAM GBF'S "OPEN ARMS" PROGRAM GIVES BLOOD CENTERS ACROSS THE U.S. AND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD AN OPPORTUNITY TO OFFER THEIR BLOOD DONORS A CHARITABLE ALTERNATIVE TO THE USUAL RECOGNITION ITEMS OF PRINTED T-SHIRTS, ETC. THIS PROGRAM CREATES A VIRTUOUS CIRCLE OF ACTIVITY SUCH AS IMPROVING DONOR CHOICE, MOTIVATING COLLECTION STAFF, SAVING BLOOD CENTERS MONEY, PROVIDING A DIVERSITY PLATFORM TO ENCOURAGE BLOOD DONATION FROM MINORITY COMMUNITIES, AND PROVIDING RESOURCES FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORK IN AN AREA OF INTEREST TO ALL PARTIES. DURING 2019 THE NUMBER OF BLOOD CENTERS ENGAGED IN OPEN ARMS REMAINED BROADLY STABLE AS GBF WORKED TO DEEPEN THE ENGAGEMENT OF EXISTING CENTERS AND OPERATIONALIZE DECLARED SUPPORT, RAT”

“Form 990, part iv, line 14a gbf established a u.k. Based office in london where the contract executive director is located. Activities in the london office include grant writing, administration and development of infrastructure to facilitate the transfer of equipment to developing countries.”

“Form 990, part v, line 4a to support the u.k. Office, the company established a banking account to receive donations and pay operating expenses. All transactions into and from the account are controlled by board members of the organization from the u.s.”

“Form 990, part vi, lines 6 and 7a obi holding company is the sole member of gbf and has the authority to appoint board members.”

“Form 990, part vi, line 11b gbf's form 990 is prepared by an independent accounting firm and reviewed internally prior to distributing to the board. Subsequent to review, all updates are incorporated into the form 990 and are provided to board members prior to filing with the irs.”

“Form 990, part vi, line 12c gbf has a conflict of interest policy that establishes guidelines and procedures applicable to transactions or arrangements that might benefit the private interest of an officer or trustee of the organization. Individuals considering a transaction shall appoint a disinterested person to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably attainable under the circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board or committee shall determine, by a majority vote of the disinterested trustees, whether the transaction or arrangement is in the best interest of the organization and whether the transaction is fair to the organization. Each trustee, officer, and member of a committee with board delegated powers shall annually sign a statement which affirms that such a person has received a copy of the conflict of interest policy, has read and understands the policy, has agreed to comply with the policy and understands that the organization 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. If the board or the committee has reasonable cause to believe that an interested person has failed to disclose a conflict of interest as required by this policy, the board or committee shall inquire, investigate and take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action, as necessary.”

“Form 990, part vi, lines 15a and 15b the volunteer board members and officers are compensated by a related organization. No part of the related entity compensation is for services rendered to the filing organization. The executive compensation for those individuals is paid by a related organization (oklahoma blood institute -"obi") of gbf's sole corporate member. The obi policy is as follows: as leaders of the state's largest biopharmaceutical organization, a 900-plus staff entity, the roles of ceo and other physicians and executives require a rare blend of astute organizational leadership, vision, fiduciary management, advanced medical specialization and expertise in the unique scientific field of transfusion medicine. Executives have responsibility for fifteen operational facilities across three states and ten major markets in the region and the day-to-day provision of a safe and sufficient blood supply to meet the needs of patients in more than 212 facilities served. The compensation of the ceo is determined by the executive committee of the board of directors comprising community leaders, business executives and physicians with exemplary ethical and fiduciary standards. Ceo compensation is based on comparative salary data from similar health care organizations using irs form 990s and industry salary surveys. Similarly, compensation for executives reporting to the ceo is proposed by the ceo based on comparable national and local salaries for positions and approved by the executive committee. Changes to compensation are reviewed and formally approved annually by the executive committee of the related organization's board of directors. Gbf's contract executive director is an independent contractor. His compensation is reviewed and approved by the board.”

“Form 990, part vi, line 19 the governing documents are made available upon request.”

“Description:research and reporting total fees:43500”

“Description:miscellaneous services total fees:11249”