Independent Sector

“Is has members that help support the mission of the organization.”

“There is only one class of voting members. The membership have the authority to elect directors of the organization other than the president.”

“The membership have the authority to approve changes in the articles of incorporation and by-laws, membership dues and/or dues assessment methodology, membership eligibility criteria, affirm major policies and legislative actions by the board, as appropriate, and adopt resolutions on national issues of concerns to the membership, as appropriate.”

“Prior to filing, the form 990 is presented to independent sector's audit committee for review. The chief financial officer also reviews the form 990 in detail with the president and chief executive officer prior to obtaining the ceo's signature on the document. The form 990 is also presented to the full board of directors for review in advance of filing. It is distributed in advance of the board meeting in order to ensure that directors have the opportunity for a meaningful review and to allow all directors the opportunity to gain a full understanding of the document before it is filed. Independent sector's auditors participate in the board meeting in order to respond to any questions that directors may have.”

“Each year, board members are asked to review independent sector's conflict of interest policy and to complete a conflict of interest disclosure statement. Among other things, the policy makes clear that all decisions of the board, officers and employees of independent sector are to be made solely on the basis of a desire to promote the best interests of the organization and the public good. The disclosure statement, in turn, requests that directors identify, to the best of their knowledge, affiliations with organizations that may be potentially related to the financial or other substantive operations of independent sector. They are also asked to identify circumstances involving either themselves, or a member of their extended family, that may be construed as a conflict of interest. If such circumstance should arise subsequent to submitting the disclosure statement, the policy sets forth an ongoing disclosure requirement. At the staff level, independent sector personnel also ensure that there are no conflicts of interest when considering engagement of a new vendor. If a potential conflict is identified, appropriate steps are taken both to assess the nature of the potential conflict and, subsequently, to ensure that the possibility of an actual conflict is mitigated. Such mitigation may be achieved through the recusal or firewalling of the individual in question, thus ensuring that the conflict is managed and the letter and spirit of the conflicts policy are upheld. In addition, we note that during the annual audit staff identify and disclose to auditors all known conflicts of interest.”

“Apart from the organization's president and chief executive officer, independent sector's board officers (chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer) do not receive compensation from the organization. An annual compensation review process for the ceo takes place under the leadership of the board chair and executive committee. An outside consultant is retained or salary surveys and 990s are reviewed to provide industry comparable salary data. An intermediate sanctions analysis and related documentation are also completed. The executive committee has responsibility for making final recommendations to the full board of directors regarding the president's performance evaluation and compensation. The board of directors makes a final determination with regard to these matters. With regard to staff compensation, the president and ceo, vice presidents, and appropriate staff managers also complete annual performance evaluations. For all staff other than the president and ceo, is utilizes industry comparable data in making determinations regarding the range of salaries. The president and ceo makes all final determinations relative to staff compensation.”

“Independent sector's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public. The annual audit, 990 and 990t, board of directors list, and is policies (conflict of interest, financial responsibility, gifts and entertainment, records retention and travel) are all available to the public on the organization's website (www.independentsector.org).”

“The number of voting members shown in part vi section a line 1 differs from the number of directors listed in part vii because board members are included in part vii if they served on the board at any time during 2018. Independent sector's board term begins at the annual business meeting held during the is annual conference in the fall.”

“To arm advocates with the data they need to effectively advance these goals, independent sector launched multiple research initiatives. Is launched a survey tool to collect stories from local nonprofits about observed changes in giving and fielded a public poll of donors that found a significant proportion admit their own giving or the giving of their neighbors will decrease this year due to tax changes. Is also launched two new research projects to help advocates more effectively frame the issue for policymakers and better align behind policy details. Findings from this research will be released in early 2019. Is worked with coalitions, legal experts, and researchers to gather data and shed new light on the costs and administrability of the new unrelated business income tax (ubit) policies. Research commissioned by is found that the fringe transportation benefit provision would cost a nonprofit an average of $12,000 and the siloing provision would cost an organization approximately $15,000. Is also recruited three fellows and an academic scholar to provide in-depth expertise and guidance on nonprofit data collection, tax policy, political activity, nonprofit oversight, and equity. In addition to engaging in advocacy on behalf of the sector, we also continued to provide organizations and individuals with tools and strategies to engage in more effective advocacy themselves. In the past year, we observed a significant amount of anxiety in the sector about federal policy changes that impact individual organization missions. This anxiety manifested in a new crop of nonprofits seeking to increase their organization's advocacy. Independent sector responded to this new interest in public policy and advocacy by offering webinars, articles, conference sessions, and resources to help guide nonprofits' efforts. Is strove to minimize the time and resources organizations needed to expend to build their advocacy muscle by incorporating many of the activities above into easy-to-consume formats, including a more robust and integrated policy dimension to our national convening (upswell), new online digital resources to help build skills and awareness within the sector, and collaboration with our peer organizations in hill days and other in-person advocacy opportunities. In addition, is launched a pilot among organization staff designed to encourage every nonprofit employee to monitor and engage in public policy related to their work, whether that is finance, fundraising, or programming. The pilot included "learning by doing," in which all staff participated in an advocacy day educating policymakers on issues impacting the nonprofit sector. Evaluations showed that staff were more likely to engage in advocacy activities in the future, and that they had a greater understanding of how independent sector's policy issues tie into the broader organization's work. Throughout the year, we have promoted voting as a critical piece of long-term systems change. Registering and mobilizing voters strengthens the power and influence of nonprofits among policymakers, ensuring organizations not only have a seat at the table, but their voice is respected. Is partnered with council on foundations and nonprofit vote to create a toolkit to help philanthropic institutions support nonpartisan voter engagement work with their grantees. Is also served as a premier partner in national voter registration day. As a part of this effort, is continues to promote the nonprofit votes count campaign, developed by is, nonprofit vote, national council of nonprofits, and united way, as an easy way to begin voter engagement work on behalf of your mission. These collective efforts meaningfully contributed to a record-breaking national voter registration day and the largest mid-term election voter turnout in 50 years.”

“Consultant: program service expenses 708,997. Management and general expenses 311,640. Fundraising expenses 37,769. Total expenses 1,058,406. Legislative assisance: program service expenses 160,769. Management and general expenses 70,666. Fundraising expenses 8,564. Total expenses 239,999. Speakers, service bureaus, and other: program service expenses 145,730. Management and general expenses 64,056. Fundraising expenses 7,762. Total expenses 217,548.”