Kansas City Symphony

“The retirement committee has the authority to act on behalf of the governing body on matters that relate to the 403(b) retirement plan. The minutes of the retirement committee are documented. The executive committee has the authority to act on behalf of the governing body but it does not have practices or policies regarding documentation of meetings or written action of its committee. An agenda and written report about issues which are to be discussed at each meeting are provided by the executive director prior to the meeting.”

“The organization's finance director and accounting manager gather the information which is sent to an independent accounting firm for preparation and review of the return. The return is then reviewed by the finance director, the executive director and the board treasurer. Any questions or concerns of these reviewers are addressed with the independent accounting firm. Any changes or clarifications that need to be incorporated into the return are made. Once these changes are incorporated, the 990 is then reviewed by the finance committee and any changes or clarifications required subsequent to that review are incorporated into the return. Then the return is emailed to the entire voting board with instruction to contact the board treasurer with any concerns or questions they may have. Any changes or clarifications that need to be incorporated in the return are made and then the return is finalized and emailed back to the board prior to submission to the irs.”

“Once a year, every officer, director and key employee is asked to review the conflict of interest policy and to complete a form disclosing any possible conflict of interest. 1. Duty to disclose: in connection with any actual or possible conflict of interest, an interested person must disclose the existence and nature of his or her financial interest to the board of directors, or committee with board-delegated powers, while the board or committee is considering a proposed transaction. 2. Determining whether a conflict of interest exists: after disclosure of the financial interest, the interested person shall leave the board meeting while the financial interest is discussed. The remaining board members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists, subject to the application of paragraph 3a. Through c. Below. 3. Procedure for addressing the conflict of interest: a. The chairperson of the board shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction. B. After exercising due diligence, the investigating person or committee shall report his or its findings to the board as to whether kcs can obtain a more advantageous transaction with reasonable efforts from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. C. If a more advantageous transaction is not reasonably attainable under circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction is fair and reasonable to kcs and if such decision is made, kcs may enter into the transaction in conformity with such determination. The interested director shall not be present for the discussion or vote. 4. Violations of the conflict of interest policy: a. If the board or member of the board or staff has reasonable cause to believe that a director, officer, member of a committee, or key employee person has failed to disclose actual or possible conflicts of interests, the executive committee shall be notified and the executive committee shall inform such person of the basis for such belief and afford such person an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose. B. If, after hearing the response of such person and making such further investigation as may be warranted in the circumstances, the executive committee determines that such person has in fact failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it shall report its findings to the full board, in the case of a member, officer or committee member, or to the executive director in the case of a key employee (provided, however, if the person who failed to make the appropriate disclosure is the executive director, the findings shall be reported to the full board) and the full board or executive director shall take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action, which may include removal or dismissal. Section e records of proceedings: the minutes of the board and all committees with board-delegated powers shall contain: 1. The names of the persons who disclosed or otherwise were found to have a financial interest in connection with an actual or possible conflict of interest, the nature of the financial interest, any action taken to determine whether a conflict of interest was present, and the board's, investigating person's, committee's or executive committee's decision as to whether a conflict of interest, in fact, existed. 2. The names of the persons who were present for discussion and voting relating to the transaction or arrangement, a reasonable summary of the content of the discussion, including any alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement, and a record of any votes taken in connection therewith. The votes cast by particular individuals shall not be recorded, only the totals.”

“The president of the board conducts the review of the executive director. He polled the board of directors on the performance of the executive director. Compensation is also reviewed of salary information collected by the league of american orchestras, which collects salary data annually for symphony orchestras across the country. A compensation study was performed for the executive director in 2015.”

“The organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available upon request.”

“Its mission is to perform great performances for greater audiences. The kansas city symphony will achieve this mission by: - developing an uncompromising performance standard. - advancing the profile and value of the orchestra locally, nationally and internationally. - developing the financial resources to allow the orchestra to thrive today and tomorrow. - creating an internal culture that stimulates effective relationships within and between board, staff and musicians. - developing audiences and partnerships that allow the orchestra to thrive today and tomorrow.”

“The symphony performed 65 classical, pops, chamber orchestra, and family concerts for more than 108,000 people in helzberg hall within the kauffman center for the performing arts. An additional 120 performances took place that included the following: - 30 performances for more than 33,000 school aged children k-12. - 58 performances in support of the programs of lyric opera of kansas city and the kansas city ballet. - 3 performances in support of symphony in the flint hills, the mission project and muriel i. Kauffman womens' heart center, other nonprofit organizations in the region. - 9 performances of the messiah and christmas festival, a pops based holiday program. - 2 free performances on labor day and memorial day weekends which were attended by over 15,000 people - 1 organ recital - 6 free happy hour chamber music concerts.”

“The kansas city symphony had a financial audit in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards (gaas). However, the audited financial statements issued received a qualified opinion, because they do not comply with generally accepted accounting principles (gaap). This qualification is a result of the exclusion of its beneficial interest in net assets held by a third party foundation. The market value of investments and the related income of the third-party foundation are included in the notes to the financial statements. Except for the effects on the financial statements of the omission of the kansas city symphony's beneficial interest in net assets held by a third-party foundation as described in the preceding paragraph, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the kansas city symphony as of june 30, 2015 and 2014, and the changes in net assets and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the united states of america.”