Make-A-Wish Foundation of East Tennessee Inc

“Form 990, part vi, section b, line 11b:the foundation worked closely with an independent public accounting firmengaged to prepare the form 990. The draft form 990 prepared by theaccounting firm was reviewed by the foundations president/ceo. The returnwas then presented to the finance committee for their review and approval.subsequent to the committees approval, a complete copy of the form 990 wasprovided to all voting members prior to filing with the internal revenueservice.”

“The foundation maintains a conflict of interest and ethics statement asprovided by the make-a-wish foundation of america for each officer,employee, board member, and volunteer. Such statements must be signed upondate of hire, election, or commencement of volunteer service, and at leastannually thereafter. The signed statements are then submitted to andreviewed by the volunteer coordinator if they are from volunteers, and thepresident/ceo if from all employees and board members. Review of thestatements is monitored by the president/ceo. The procedures for addressingany conflicts of interest of which the president/ceo becomes awareincludes, but are not limited to, the following (1) determining the natureof the conflict via verbal or written communication with the interested party, (2) fully disclosing conflicting interests to the board, (3) the conflicted person excuses themselves from deliberations and decisions regarding the transaction, and (4) taking appropriate actions warranted by the conflict as recommended by the board up to and including termination of service.”

“For 2024 compensation, the president/ceos compensation was determined bythe board of directors, consisting of independent persons. It was reviewedagainst national benchmarking salary studies, surveys done every few yearsby make-a-wish foundation of america, and by local salary surveys conductedby state organizations and by national benchmarking organizations. Theboards discussions and decisions were contemporaneously documented.documentation includes the terms of the transaction and the date it wasapproved, the members present during deliberations and those who voted onit, and the comparability data relied upon and how it was obtained.”

“The foundation does not have other officers who are compensated and has noemployees who meet the definition of key employees. The same process listedabove is used for other staff, using the same instruments. Salaries forstaff other than the president/ceo are decided by the president/ceo inconsultation with the employees immediate supervisor within limits set bythe board-approved budget. All salary increases are based on metrics fromperformance reviews.”

“While federal tax laws do not mandate that the organizations governingdocuments, conflict of interest policy and financial statements be madeavailable for public inspection, the organization makes its auditedfinancial statements and form 990 available upon request and on itswebsite. Governing documents and conflict of interest policies are alsoavailable upon request with inspection at an office of the organization.”

“Form 990, part vi, section b, line 11b:the foundation worked closely with an independent cpa firmengaged to prepare the form 990. The draft form 990 prepared by theaccounting firm was reviewed by the foundations president/ceo. The returnwas then presented to the finance committee for their review and approval.subsequent to the committees approval, a complete copy of the form 990 wasprovided to all voting members prior to filing with the irs.”

“Event fundraising expenses $54,081.direct expenses for fundraising events are presented as a reduction in revenue rather than an expense.”

“The make-a-wish foundation of east tennessee inc. Creates life-changingwishes during the fiscal year ended august 31, 2024. The total cost ofwishes granted for the fiscal year was $889,456. Of this amount,$159,631 was contributed by various vendors who provided in-kindcontributions such as travel and travel services, transportation,lodging and other services and use of facilities to complete a childswish. For financial statement purposes, these amounts are included ascontribution revenue and granted wish expense. For form 990, however,the irs requires the $159,631 of contributed services and use offacilities to be excluded from both revenue and expense.”