Eastern Congo Initiative

“In conjunction with information provided by the organization, the form 990 was prepared by the organization's outside public accounting firm. Once a draft of the return was complete, the form 990 was reviewed by management and provided to the governing body before filing.”

“The organization's conflict of interest policy addresses the transactions and arrangements involving eci's directors, officers, members of any committee of the board of directors with authority to act on behalf of the board of directors and executive employees. In addition, the policy covers any other manager or supervisor identified by the board of directors of the president as exercising substantial influence over the operations of the organization. Every covered person is required to sign a statement that affirms that he or she has received a copy of the policy, has read and understands it, and has agreed to comply with it, and completes annually a questionnaire disclosing actual and potential conflicts of interest. All disclosures involving a transaction or arrangement being considered at a meeting of the board of directors or committee is made to all members present at the meeting. All other disclosures are made to the president. Evaluation of the disclosure occurs at the board of director level. An individual with an actual or potential conflict of interest is not present for or leaves any portion of a meeting at which the board of directors or a committee is voting to determine whether a conflict exists. In addition, the person with the potential conflict is not present for or does not participates in any portion of a meeting where the issue is considered.”

“Eastern congo initiative (eci) benchmarks officers' compensation at the market rate for similarly sized non-profit entities in the washington, d.c. Area. Additionally, officers' compensation is subject to review by the board of directors. When hiring new officers, the managing director (md) engages in expected compensation discussions with the new hire (whether in person, via phone, etc). Once the new potential hire has offered expectations to the md, the md informally requests approval from the board of directors. Upon approval from the board, compensation is then offered to the potential new hire. The md will request staff to research compensation comparables for similar positions at similarly sized non-profit entities in the area. Staff will examine sites such as glassdoor.com, payscale.com, etc. As a preliminary investigation. Md then supplements this with his/her personal experience, and possibly reaches out to personal network, in an effort to determine what it is reasonable and realistic for the given position due to the relatively small size of eci, much, if not all of the deliberations are done informally (via phone, in-person, etc). As a result, formal documentation of the decision-making process is virtually non-existent.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available upon request.”