Make a Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina Inc.

“The foundation worked closely with an independent public accounting firm engaged to prepare the form 990. The draft form 990 prepared by the accounting firm was reviewed by the foundation's chief executive officer and treasurer. The return was then presented to the finance committee for their review. Subsequent to the committee's approval, at the request of a donor, a copy of the form 990 redacting the name and address of that donor from schedule b, was provided to all voting members prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“The organization adopted a "statement of values, code of ethics and conflict of interest policy" with which all officers, directors, employees and volunteers are required to comply and acknowledge by signing, upon their initial involvement with the organization and annually thereafter, an "annual conflict of interest and ethics assurance statement" (the "coi statement'). The coi statement requires officers, directors and key employees to disclose the existence of any family and/or business relationships they may have with other officers, directors or key employees of the organization. The ceo of the chapter is charged with ensuring the col statement and addendum are signed each year by directors, officers and key employees. Review of the statements is monitored by the ceo if any covered person discloses a potential or actual conflict, the following procedure is followed (1) the conflicting interest is fully disclosed to the board, (2) the covered person responds to any factual questions from the board related to the disclosed conflict, and (3) the board, without the covered person, discusses the conflict and approves or disapproves the proposed transaction.”

“For 2019 compensation, the executive committee of the board, comprised solely of independent directors, none of whom have a conflict of interest with respect to the compensation arrangement, was accountable for setting a reasonable compensation package for the ceo. The executive committee also developed, consistent with the organization's philosophy and principles, the annual performance goals and criteria to be used in determining variable compensation criteria for officers and other employees. In addition, the organization retained a consultant to review, analyze and provide benchmarking data for the total compensation and benefits package of the chief executive officer. Appropriate comparability data was obtained from the consultant, i.e., total economic benefits paid by similarly situated organizations (both taxable and tax-exempt) for similar job responsibilities. The organization also gathered benchmarking data relevant to officers and other employees from comparable national nonprofit organizations and the overall market place. The boards discussions and decisions were contemporaneously documented, including the terms of transaction and the date approved, the members of committee present for the deliberations and who voted, and the description of the comparability data obtained and how it was obtained. Form 990, part vi, section b, line 15b: salaries for staff other than the top management officials are decided by the ceo in consultation with the employees immediate supervisor within limits set by the board-approved budget. All salary increases are based on metrics from performance reviews.”

“While federal tax laws do not mandate that the organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements be made available for public inspection, the financial statements are available on the chapter's website and the organization makes all other documents available upon request.”

“The make-a-wish foundation of eastern north carolina creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.”