Open Space Institute Inc.

“Our 990 is prepared by an outside independent accounting firm. The draft form 990 is reviewed by the controller, chief financial officer & general counsel. After the staff review the return, it is then reviewed by the audit committee. The reviewed and corrected 990 form is then sent out to all the board members of the organization for their review and comments. The return is filed once all parties have completed their review and required edits have been made.”

“Open space institute, inc. Has a conflict of interest policy which requires all interested persons to disclose conflicts and potential conflicts as soon as they arise. Once a conflict or potential conflict has been disclosed, the interested person may not discuss the transaction that is the basis of such conflict, and must recuse himself or herself from any vote on such transaction. The president each year reports to the board of trustees all conflict transactions and how they were handled. The board of open space institute, inc. Has the power to take remedial action if the conflict policy is violated.”

“The process of determining compensation for top management and key employees involves our compensation committee working with an independent compensation consultant. The committee performs an annual assessment of the responsibilities and performance of the ceo/president (other top management and key employees are reviewed at least annually by the ceo/president). The committee also utilizes compensation surveys and information gleaned from form 990s of comparable organizations to determine applicable compensation rates. Once reasonable and competitive compensation rates are established, they are approved by the compensation committee.”

“Open space institute, inc. Makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy, document retention and destruction policy and financial statements available to the general public. These documents are sent to anyone who contacts our organization and requests such information.”

“During 2013, several overlapping programs of the open space institute, inc. ("osi") were transferred to the open space institute land trust, inc. ("osilt") a supporting organization of osi, to consolidate similar programs into one entity which resulted in the transfer of $3,356,855 of net assets from one organization to the other. The corresponding revenue and expenses relate to those transferred programs are now being reported on the form 990 of osilt.”

“Citac consultant fees: program service expenses 442,904. Management and general expenses 16,930. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 459,834. Citac educational fees: program service expenses 22,533. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 22,533.”

“Description of the organization's audit committee: the audit committee of the open space institute, inc. Is responsible for the oversight of osi's financial statements and selection of osi's independent accountant. The committee meets quarterly to review complex transactions and interim financial statements to obtain a better understanding of the current financial condition of the organization. On an annual basis osi's audit committee reviews the report to the audit committee prepared by osi's outside auditors and the consolidated financial statements of our organization. The audit committee periodically reviews, not less than every five years, the need to replace osi's independent accountant based on certain criteria. The criteria considered include determining if the independent accountant possesses a high level of knowledge of accounting standards and principles, generally, and not for profit accounting knowledge, specifically, and if they can complete the required work in a timely manner at a competitive price.”