Dakota Medical Foundation

“The Executive Committee will be comprised of the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and the Chairs of: the Governance Committee, Finance/Investment Committee, Strategic Platforms Committee, and one Board Member At-Large. The Immediate Past Chair shall also serve on the Executive Committee for a one-year, nonvoting term. The Board Member At-Large shall be elected by the Board at its organizational meeting. Four (4) members of the total committee membership shall be members of the medical staff of hospitals or clinics. The Executive Committee: A. Shall be responsible for the day-to-day activities of the Foundations. B. May review actions of the three (3) other Standing Committees: Governance, Finance/Investment, and Strategic Platforms Committees, and give recommendations to the Board. C. Shall annually evaluate the performance of the President and may appoint a Compensation Subcommittee to conduct the evaluation. D. Shall set the President's annual compensation and terms of employment. E. Shall recommend to the Board a process for recruiting and selecting a President of the Foundations in the event of a vacancy in the position. F. Shall review and recommend to the Board the number and salary ranges of all staff of the Foundations. G. Shall review and may make expenditures up to and including fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) without Board approval unless otherwise specifically prohibited.”

“Michael Schumacher has a business relationship, as an employee and CFO of Dakota Medical Charities (a related organization), with J. Patrick Traynor who serves as the President and is an employee of Dakota Medical Foundation, and the Board members of the Foundations pursuant to the business relationship definition per IRS guidelines. Board members include: Joel Haugen, M.D., Richard Vetter, M.D., Curt Noyes, David Clutter, M.D., Jay Eisenbeis, Chris Kennelly, Larry Leitner, Fadel Nammour, M.D., Jane Skalsky, RN, Mike Warner, Susan Mathison, M.D., Nancy Slotten, Sindy Keller, Hope Yongsmith, Seth Novak, Amanda Thomas, Robert Bakkum and Robert Akkerman, MD. Essentia board member Joel Haugen, M.D. has a business relationship with Essentia employees David Akkerman, M.D., Richard Vetter, M.D., and David Clutter, M.D.”

“Dakota Medical Foundation is a member organization comprised of up to 220 community members.”

“Members elect the Board of Directors annually.”

“The Board of Directors may not sell, assign, commit or otherwise dispose of a significant portion of the assets of the Foundation without membership approval. Also, any amendment to the Articles of Incorporation must be approved by a majority of the directors of the corporation and at any duly held meeting of the members of the corporation by a vote of not less than two-thirds of those present or represented by proxy.”

“The Form 990 is provided to all Board members for review and comment prior to filing. In addition, the filed copy is presented as an agenda item at the next scheduled Board meeting.”

“Board Members and staff are annually required to review and declare conflicts. Members of the Foundations' management follow written procedures for staff conflicts. Board Members abstain from voting on any issues that create a conflict of interest.”

“The President's performance and compensation are reviewed annually by the Executive Committee. The President's compensation changes are approved by the Board. The President's compensation was reviewed in September 2012 by HR Advisors, an independent human resource consulting firm engaged by the Board to establish a reasonable and competitive base compensation range. Changes to compensation in subsequent years are based on the established range, performance and inflationary changes, and compared with the Council on Foundations' annual salary surveys and other available relevant sources. Other staff compensation ranges are reviewed by the Executive Committee and/or the President and compared periodically with the Council on Foundations' salary surveys and other available relevant sources.”

“The Foundations make their governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Chronic Disease Prevention - Cass Clay Alive! Initiative: The Foundations joined with other like-minded organizations in 2009 to promote and facilitate a comprehensive approach for residents living in Cass County, ND and Clay County, MN to eat healthier and lead more active lifestyles, resulting in decreased incidence of obesity and chronic diseases. The initiative's overall strategy is to coordinate community collaboration to improve the health of citizens and to integrate best practices through the engagement of government, education, food industry, worksite wellness, community-based organizations, and insurers to make Cass and Clay counties the healthiest place in America to live, work, and play. The goal is to reduce childhood obesity rates in those counties by 20% by 2020. The initiative works through an advisory committee and a steering committee comprised of members from the various sectors to develop and direct the initiative's goals. Beginning in 2012, the Initiative programs focused on StreetsAlive!, SchoolsAlive! and ChildcareAlive!. The Foundations provided $253,974 in 2015 to support this Initiative. StreetsAlive! The healthy communities focus in 2015 included the sixth annual Streets Alive! events to encourage healthier lifestyles in the community through movement by walking, running, biking, skating, dancing and any other means of human movement. Participants used human-powered transportation to navigate the 3-mile course through Fargo/Moorhead area. Over 30 community partners participated and supported the Streets Alive! effort by establishing healthy food booths, providing health education and mini-activity classes throughout the days. Two 2015 StreetsAlive! events drew over 13,000 attendees. SchoolsAlive! The Initiative's SchoolsAlive program works with local school systems to implement stronger wellness polices impacting over 10,300 elementary students in 2015. The West Fargo, ND school system is implementing a school day physical activity initiative in its elementary schools. The program has included trainings and support on Active Recess, Active Classrooms, a university student service learning project, and training for before and after school staff. More than 1,360 staff have been trained to date. Over 600 school staff from ND and MN have attended local Healthy Schools Summits. Culinary trainings for school cooks teach scratch cooking that uses fresh, healthy ingredients and reduces additives and preservatives in student lunches. More than 230 individuals from 40 ND school districts and dozens of childcares have participated in Culinary Boot Camps. Family and Consumer Science teachers, childcare providers, and nonprofits like the Salvation Army and Great Plains Food Bank also attended. Childcare Alive! The Foundations collaborated with the ChildCare Aware program to increase physical activity and ensure healthier eating in child care settings. Early childhood professionals take part in online and face-to-face training, assessment of current practices, goal setting, and action planning around improving children's health. ChildcareAlive! has provided training to over 1,100 childcare providers and parents in functions addressing childhood obesity, increased outdoor activity, and nutritional education through 2015. Faith Communities Alive! guides faith settings supportive of healthy choices. The initiative has engaged 20 congregations in Cass and Clay counties to build a peer network of healthy parishes and prototype policies and practices that establish faith settings as hubs for education, health promotion and advancing healthy habits.”

“Organizational Effectiveness - The Foundations believe it is imperative for nonprofit organizations to build their capacity to become efficient high-impact, sustainable nonprofits to provide more effective health outcomes for the clients they serve over the long term. The Foundations recognize the challenges that many nonprofit health related organizations encounter in delivering needed programs that improve health and access to healthcare. The Foundations provide financial support to the Impact Institute training and education programs made available to nonprofit organizations. Since inception in 2005, more than 5,000 nonprofit executives and directors from over 450 nonprofits have trained in Impact Institute leadership and fundraising concepts. In 2015, the Impact Institute helped equip charity organizations to solve complex community challenges through our training and coaching. We were able to train over 100 organizations, particularly in fundraising. Many continued their professional development in the fundraising curriculum and a coaching program titled Funding Logic that was developed at Impact Institute to build a mastery of fundraising and leadership. A study of 33-nonprofit organizations that participated in fundraising training showed that their public support on Giving Hearts Day increased over a six year period from $832,018 in donations in 2009 to $2.4 million in donations in 2015. During 2015, the Foundations provided $150,000 in grants to Impact Foundation. DMF Training and Event Center: In March 2013 DMF opened its newly-constructed 18,800 square foot building to serve as a nonprofit community center to expand the sector's capability to educate and train area nonprofit organizations and to provide a venue for conferences, retreats, fundraisers and a gathering location for area nonprofit organizations and health leaders. The center provides high-tech conference rooms for engaging health leaders and other stakeholders and a teaching kitchen facility that provides a location to teach healthy food preparation, particularly to school and child care food service staff. The training room, board room, and multiple conference rooms are made available to area nonprofit organizations for their conferences and meetings. In 2015, 238 nonprofits used the center at least one time; many utilize it on a regular basis. GiveBack Initiative: The Foundations partnered with Impact Foundation to develop a GiveBack Initiative that focuses on developing strategies and programs to inspire and substantially increase the giving of time, talent and treasure by donors in North Dakota and western Minnesota. The Initiative created new ways of thinking and new approaches surrounding wealth transfer and volunteerism in North Dakota and Western Minnesota. The GiveBack website (impactgiveback.org) provides the capability for nonprofit organizations to accept online contributions from donors; share their stories; engage volunteers and record volunteer activities and coordinate event registrations. A significant commitment has been made by Impact Foundation to enhance the website in order to better connect donors with nonprofit organizations that fit the donor's charitable goals. The online giving website has processed over $12.8 million for its partner nonprofits since its 2007 implementation. In 2015, the Foundations provided $150,000 in grants to Impact Foundation to support this initiative. Wealth Transfer Initiative: The Foundations, partnering with Impact Foundation, have been a vocal force educating financial advisors and nonprofit organizations on the generational wealth transfer expected to occur between 2007 and 2061 in North Dakota. According to the U.S. Wealth Transfer: A Golden Era of Philanthropy report commissioned by Impact Foundation and completed by the Boston College Center for Philanthropy, an estimated $59 trillion will be transferred by 93.6 million estates in the U.S. and approximately 220,000 North Dakota households will tr”

“Volunteer Initiative: The Foundations partnered with Impact Foundation in 2007 to implement a Volunteer Initiative designed to help nonprofit organizations more effectively recruit, train, manage and retain volunteers. The GiveBack website www.impactgiveback.org includes a Volunteer page that provides the capability for nonprofit organizations to list their volunteer opportunities and to track the volunteer's time spent. The Foundations partnered with FirstLink to connect volunteers with opportunities to serve. In 2015, the Foundations provided $15,000 in grants to FirstLink in support of their efforts to expand this initiative.”

“The Finance/Investment Committee has responsibility for oversight of the annual audit of the Foundations financial statements and the selection of an independent accountant. The Finance/Investment Committee recommends to the Board of Directors for approval the results of the annual audit and the annual selection of the independent accountant.”