White Pony Express

“The tax return is prepared by an outside accounting firm. After completion of said returns, the organization is sent a draft of the tax returns to be reviewed and examined. The organization distributes copies of the returns to those individuals charged with governance. Those individuals at that time can review and if applicable discuss any line items in the return with the accountant who has prepared the return. If all items are found to be acceptable, an authorization is signed and provided to authorize the outside accounting firm to process, sign and provide copies of the returns to be filed (paper or electronically) with the designated governmental agencies. The tax returns are then signed by the organization, stamped and mailed with certified return receipt or the signed form 8879 is provided to the outside accounting firm allowing electronic filing.”

“The Board and staff are aware of and regularly revisit the policy. We educate, raise awareness, and encourage disclosure and discussion of anything that MAY be a conflict. We try to cultivate a culture of candor. Minutes of board meetings reflect when a board member discloses that s/he has a conflict of interest and how the conflict is to be managed. Examples are holding discussions on the respective matter without the board member in the room, or taking a vote with the interested board member abstained.”

“Compensation Review & Approval Process - CEO.The Board determines the Executive Director salary. The Executive Director performance is measured against clear performance objectives and annual targets. To make sure the Executive Director salary is reasonable, the Board researches comparable executive director salaries from 990s filed by similar non-profit organizations as well as by an extensive executive salary survey of non-profits located in the East Bay.”

“Compensation Review & Approval Process - Top ManagementThe Executive Director determines the COO's salary. Together the Executive Director and the COO determine managers' salaries based upon agreed performance targets. The annual budget, including salary increases, is carefully reviewed by the Board of Directors.”

“Federal Tax Returns will be available at guidestar.org & charitynavigator.org.”

“Governing documents are available for public inspection at the principal place of business.The conflict of interest policy and the organization's financial statements are available upon request. The audited financial statements are also available on line.”