Upward Unlimited

“Form 990 is prepared by an independent CPA firm and reviewed in detail by Upward top management. The reviewed 990 is then provided to the Board of Directors prior to filing with the IRS.”

“Upward's conflict of interest policy is reviewed and approved annually. All Board members, officers, Directors and management agree to sign the policy annually. The Board of Directors review the annually signed statements. The policy is detailed in the team member guidebook, which every employee is required to read and indicate by signature that he/she understands the policy. If a conflict were to arise, the individual would abstain from voting.”

“Upward's non-salaried Board of Directors works with an independent third party to ensure reasonable compensation of Upward employees. This Firm also conducts regular compensation analysis, comparing Upward officers' compensation to similar organizations, and recommends to the Board annual compensation for all officers. This process is documented in executive session Board minutes. During the Board's compensation discussion and vote, no employee, including the Executive Director, nor family member of any employee is present. The compensation vote is documented in the Board minutes upon approval.”

“The organization's audited financial statements are made available to the public on Upward's website at www.upward.org. The governing documents and conflict of interest policy are made available upon request.”

“Program sales revenue is reported net of cost of goods sold to inform the Form 990 reader of the expenses directly related to the activity. Consequently, revenue on Part VIII and program expenses on Part IX is understated to reflect this reporting. If cost of goods sold were removed from Part VIII, Line 10b, gross revenue would increase by $7,976,889 and reported separately on Part IX, Line 25- program expenses would increase by $7,976,889. Additionally, the percentage of program service expenses to total expenses reported on Part IX, Line 25 would be 80.44%.”

“An independent firm conducts an audit of Upward Unlimited's financial statements annually. The Board assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of its independent accountant. This process has been changed since the prior year to give this responsibility to the Board instead of an audit committee.”