National Geographic Society

“Trustee Alexandra Grosvenor Eller, MD, is the daughter of trustee, Gilbert M. Grosvenor.”

“The Society's Form 990 was prepared by tax and financial staff at the Society, and was reviewed by senior management, including the CFO and Chief Legal Officer. It was also reviewed by the Society's outside tax advisors. A draft of this Form 990 was provided to the full Board of Trustees for review, and a conference call was held in which all Board members had an opportunity to participate in reviewing and addressing any questions or issues about the draft 990. The Form 990, including any revisions resulting from the call, was then provided to each of the Trustees for any additional questions, comments or input before it was filed with the IRS.”

“As a nonprofit organization, employer, and responsible citizen, the National Geographic Society performs a variety of important educational and business functions. The Society wishes to meet its obligations in all of these areas in a manner that earns the respect of its members, charitable donors, employees, business associates, and the general public. Two basic principles apply: The Society will conduct every aspect of its business in a fair, lawful, and ethical manner. The Society will maintain a climate that encourages all employees, officers, directors and trustees to be honest and fair in the conduct of their duties. The responsibility for ethical conduct rests with the trustees, directors, officers, and employees who act in its name. All individuals must comply with the law, both when acting on behalf of the Society and in their personal conduct. In areas not covered by laws or regulations, the Society expects its representatives to conduct themselves in an ethical and fair manner. Managers should lead by personal example and ensure that employees under their supervision meet the high standards set by the Society. Policies spelled out in this statement may also apply to members of your immediate family; their actions could involve a conflict, or the appearance of a conflict, in violation of your responsibilities under this policy. If you have any doubts about the propriety of any action or decision, you should seek guidance from your manager or from Human Resources, or from the Society President or Secretary as appropriate. The following applies to all employees, officers, directors and trustees of the National Geographic Society relating to their activities on the Society's behalf: I. Gifts and Gratuities 1. Individuals may not solicit, directly or indirectly, any gift, favor, loan, entertainment, or other remuneration, or accept any excessive gift, favor, loan, entertainment, or other remuneration, from any person or organization that engages in business with, or is a competitor of, the Society (or any of its divisions), for himself, herself, or for any other person. ("Excessive" value is any item or group of items over $50 in value. That means that any item or group of items that exceeds $50 is considered of "substantial value" and should be refused). 2. Individuals shall neither give nor pay, directly or indirectly, to any person or organization that engages in business with the Society, any gift, favor, loan, or entertainment, except within reasonable limits adopted from time to time by the Society. 3. All invitations to accept bribery or graft (kickbacks, etc.) or any proposal or suggestion of a similar nature must be reported immediately to the employee's division manager, who in turn must report the matter to the Human Resources Division. Reports should be made to the Secretary or President of the Society in the case of a director or trustee. Nondisclosure of even a rejected proposal of bribery or graft or suggestion of a similar nature shall be reason for severe disciplinary action. 4. Employees involved in purchasing decisions must take extra care to avoid gifts or gratuities that may affect or may reasonably be construed to affect the purchase of equipment, supplies, and services. Further, the decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of a gift or gratuity in connection with the Society shall be made by the division manager of the employee involved, or by the Society's President or Secretary in the case of an officer, director or trustee. Division managers shall maintain records of employee reports to them of all offerings of substantial gifts and gratuities. As noted above, non-"excessive," modest gifts and favors, which will not reasonably be regarded by others as improper, may be accepted or given on an occasional basis. Entertainment which satisfies these requirements and conforms to generally accepted business practice is also permissible. However, even a nominal gift should not be accepted if, to a”

“In accordance with the Society's Conflict of Interest Policy, officers, directors or trustees and all employees are obligated to disclose activities that give rise to conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any participation in decisions about matters as to which they have a conflict. Such disclosures are required not only on an annual questionnaire but also at the point in time a conflict arises, not merely on an annual basis. Disclosures should be made to appropriate Society management. A VP and Associate General Counsel is the Society's designated Ethics Officer and provides advice and consultation in these matters.”

“The Board of Trustees of the National Geographic Society has delegated authority to the Compensation Committee to oversee the compensation and benefits of certain senior executives of the Society. The Committee, which is composed exclusively of independent members of the Board of Trustees, is responsible for overseeing an executive compensation program for the Society's senior executives. The Committee follows the procedures set forth in the IRS regulations under Section 4958 in making compensation decisions. In particular, the Committee engages an independent compensation consultant to prepare and present comparable market data with respect to the Society's cash compensation and benefits programs, and is also advised by outside counsel. The Committee reviews the performance of senior executives and evaluates their compensation and benefits in light of the comparable market data provided by the independent compensation consultant and other relevant factors. The Committee relies on such market data in awarding cash compensation and reviewing benefit programs for the Society's senior executives, and receives an opinion from the independent compensation consultant as to the reasonableness and comparability of the Society's executive compensation and benefits programs to that provided for similar services by similar organizations under similar circumstances. The Committee documents its decisions regarding executive compensation decisions in its minutes. The Chair of the Committee promptly reports all actions taken by the Committee to the full Board of Trustees. The Compensation Committee followed the process described above at meetings held in February and December, with respect to compensation decisions for the following senior executive positions: President and CEO; The EVP, NGS; the EVP Group Editorial Directors; EVP & CFO; EVP, Mission Programs & President, Licensing; EVP, Communications; Chief Technology Officer; SVP, Human Resources; SVP, Global Strategy & Business Development, VP, Audit & Advisory Services; EVP & Chief Marketing Officer; SVP, Development.”

“The Society's conflict of interest policy is disclosed in the 990 on Schedule O; the corporate charter is available to the public through the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Corporations Division. The Society's other governing documents are available upon request. The financial statements of the tax-exempt parent, the National Geographic Society, are made available in this Form 990. The Society does not currently make its audited financial statements available to the public because they are issued on a consolidated basis, which include financial details of the activities of Society's taxable subsidiaries which are not disclosed for competitive reasons. The Society's Forms 990 and 990T are available upon request, as well as on-line at Guidestar.org.”

“Internationally, National Geographic Magazine was published in 2013 in 38 different languages: Arabic, Bahasa, Bulgarian, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal & Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Latin America & Iberia), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian. National Geographic's launch in Ukraine in 2013 represented the first international magazine to be licensed in the Ukrainian language. Through Complete National Geographic, you can browse 123 years of the National Geographic Magazine--articles, photographs, and maps--exactly as they appeared in print. This definitive collection of National Geographic Magazine is digitally reproduced in high resolution. The visual interface can be used to explore a topic, find photographs, and browse the globe.”

“V. Confidential Information Employees have a responsibility to comply with the Society's policy concerning confidential information and trade secrets. Among other duties employees have, the following should be observed: 1. In the conduct of Society business, employees of the Society shall limit requests for and use of information to our business needs; limit use and discussion of information obtained on the job to normal business activities; and restrict access of records to those with proper authorization and legitimate business needs. 2. No employee shall disclose confidential information (editorial, publishing, personnel, etc.) unless specifically authorized to do so. 3. No employee shall disclose directly or indirectly to any news organization any sensitive information concerning the Society, its employees or its members. Failure to comply with these standards may lead to serious disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Procedures: For the protection of the Society and its employees, it is essential that employees make prompt and full disclosure to the Society prior to becoming involved in any situation that may be, or may result in, a conflict of interest. All employees will be required to complete a Confidential Report Letter at the time of hire. A Report Letter shall also be submitted by any employee promptly after he or she becomes involved in any conflict of interest situation or potential conflict of interest that has not previously been reported. All information disclosed shall be treated on a confidential basis except to the extent disclosure is considered necessary by the Society in its discretion for the protection of the Society's interest.”

“Pension/postretirement other than net periodic cost 79,762,000. Donated facilities use expenses -524,346. Grants canceled/returned 270,367. Misc. 1,834. Equity transfer from affiliate 3,215,444.”

“National Geographic Library & Archives The Library's Reading Room is open to the public by appointment Monday through Friday, 1:30pm-5pm, and our staff also respond to phone calls, letters and emails. About 200 questions, or 7% of our reference questions, originate with the public or serve scholars wishing to use our collections for research. The Library's free website for National Geographic Collectors (Collector's Corner) has grown to 3,952 members. The Library also participates in regional inter-library loans of our physical collections. Our materials were lent to libraries including Smithsonian, George Washington University and the Executive Office of the President. During 2013, the Library hosted events on-site for federal and school librarians and our librarians were invited to speak at University classes and regional professional events. Also during 2013, the Library coordinated with Gale Cengage to offer the National Geographic Virtual Library (NGVL), an online research portal of National Geographic published content for public, school and academic libraries. Through NGVL, libraries and their users can search National Geographic Magazine 1988-current, along with Traveler magazine (2010-present), 225 National Geographic ebooks, 655 maps, 325 videos and 600 downloadable images. A separate portal was launched for Kids, with NG Kids Magazine (2009-present), 225 ebooks and images. For libraries without NGVL access, our free-to-use index to National Geographic publications index had 120,000 outside page views in 2013.”

“The National Geographic Society has undertaken a serious commitment to operate more sustainably on its campus and in its expectations of its suppliers. The Society has developed the following four strategic core values as part of its company-wide sustainability goals: - To become a carbon neutral company - To send zero (0) waste to the landfill - To have an engaged and healthy workforce - To practice wise resource stewardship. Becoming a carbon neutral company The Society performs an annual carbon assessment of all of the carbon emissions it is responsible for, including those emitted on its behalf by its suppliers. The goal is to quantify what is emitted, find ways to lower those that can be reduced, and to offset those that cannot. Since 2007, the Society has switched its source for electrical usage for its buildings and all leased space in the US to wind REC's (Renewable Energy Certificates) and offsets are purchased (Reforestation and methane capture from Landfills) to offset any natural gas used. Reforestation offsets are also purchased to help offset business travel. The Society's buildings have been retrofitted to achieve maximum energy efficiency and over the past ten years, electrical usage has been reduced by 17%, water usage by 36% and natural gas usage by 23%. As a result of these ongoing efforts, the Society's buildings have earned a LEED EB Gold certification since 2009. Energy reduction strategies are identified with our suppliers as well as renewable energy options or methane recovery offsets where needed. Sending zero (0) waste to landfill The Society has a concerted recycling effort for all waste generated on-site which began about eleven years ago. This includes all recyclable paper, metals, glass, plastics and building waste materials. Five years ago the Society began composting all organic waste, including all non-recyclable paper items and all food waste from the cafeteria and the general buildings. Employees are also actively encouraged to segregate all waste as it is disposed of with the goal of having none end up in a landfill. The Society reached a landfill diversion rate of 63% for all building waste and a target has been set to improve by 25% by 2015. Engaged and healthy employees All employees are encouraged to become actively engaged in the varied sustainability initiatives. The Society offers a public transportation subsidy to its employees. In addition, the Society has been designated a bike friendly workplace by encouraging biking to work through the provision of garaged bike racks, showers, as well as being an active participant in "bike to work" days including being an official stop for those wishing to stop for refreshments or a snack and offering employee discounts with local bike sharing services. Carpooling and the use of low-emission vehicles are supported through parking discounts and electric vehicle parking spots for charging. We also have negotiated employee discounts with local car shares. Two exercise fitness rooms are available to all staff members along with lockers. In 2013, locally-produced or organic produce made up approx. 20% of our cafeteria fare and a local farm sells CSA shares and runs a weekly farm stand on our headquarters courtyard throughout the summer and early fall available to employees and the general public. Staff are encouraged to recycle their "difficult to recycle" waste (electronics, batteries) in designated collection areas. A "swap meet" is held three to four times a year in which employees can bring in items they no longer want and take home items donated by others, with the remaining items donated to local charities. All employees are encouraged to participate on one of the "Green" Committees that are designed to make the Society ever more sustainable in its operation. In 2013, approx. 5% of staff participated in at least 1 Green committee. Practicing the wise use of Resources Starting in 2013, Water Restoration Certificates are being purchased to offset”