Allegheny County Parks Foundation Inc.

“The executive committee consists of officers and other members of the board. In a few instances and on a case by case basis, the board delegated the authority to the executive committee to approve specific contracts.”

“The corporation shall be governed by a board of directors of not less than seven (7), nor more than twenty-four (24), natural persons, who shall be voting members. In addition: (a) the allegheny county chief executive; (b) the president of allegheny county council, or another member of county council designated by the president of allegheny county council; and (c) the executive director of the allegheny county parks foundation, shall each serve as ex-officio members of the board with voting rights.”

“The completed form 990 will be reviewed by the executive director, audit committee and treasurer. Upon completion of their review, the form 990 will be provided to the governing board in advance of filing with the internal revenue service.”

“Each director, officer, senior management, and member of a committee with governing board delegated powers annually signs a statement which affirms that such person: a. Has received a copy of the conflicts of interest policy; b. Has read and understands the policy; c. Has agreed to comply with the policy; and d. Understands the foundation is charitable and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes.”

“Salary data for comparable not-for-profit organizations, as well as historical foundation data was reviewed in determining the executive director's compensation. This review process was conducted by the board of directors and documented in board meeting minutes.”

“Allegheny county parks foundation makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request”

“The following individuals serve as an ex-officio board members of the allegheny county parks foundation with no voting rights: andrew baechle, william mckain, stephen shanley, and alan caponi. The following individual serves as a board member emeritus of the allegheny county parks foundation with no voting rights: john p. Surma.”

“During a time of turmoil in our world, the parks foundation was able to remain stable and even realized some benefits from the experience of working and living through a pandemic. When so many public places were closed, the allegheny county parks remained open and welcomed more visitors than ever before! People gained an increased awareness of these regional assets, critical to the parks foundation's health and well-being. The parks foundation had already planned to launch a marketing campaign to increase community awareness of the parks and the parks foundation through paid and earned print media and social media. There was also a planned campaign to acquire new donors. The timing of the awareness and acquisition campaigns was perfectly aligned with increased park use and was successful with expanding individual donations and new website visitors. Along with greater park use and increased awareness, the parks foundation experienced a higher level of engagement with the public, and the demand for park bench donations skyrocketed. While annual in-person fundraising events were unable to take place, the parks foundation maintained financial support from corporate sponsors. In addition, philanthropic grants continued during 2020 which helped to maintain harwood acres and north park projects. Because the sculpture garden at hartwood acres, the cascades at south park, the green parking lot at south park were all in design, engineering or contracting phases, work was able to continue on these parks projects. In addition, field work in the parks for the ecological assessments and tree/shrub planting was able to be done observing social distancing and wearing face coverings. Administrative and fundraising team members of the parks foundation proceeded with remote day-to-day operations, employing frequent communication and weekly staff meetings via zoom. Both the team and board contributed to the success of the parks foundation in 2020 by remaining nimble, adapting to uncertainty, and supporting new methods of fundraising.”

“Design and other professional consultants: program service expenses 306,339. Management and general expenses 3,586. Fundraising expenses 12,354. Total expenses 322,279.”

“Allegheny county parks foundation has a committee that assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit of its financial statements and its selection of the independent accountant. The selection and oversight process did not change from the prior year.”