Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and Northern Florida Inc.

“Once the 990 was completed by our outside preparer, it was reviewed by our vp of finance & operations, president & ceo, board chair and finance committee. Once approved by the finance committee, a complete copy of the final return was provided to the board of directors for review and approval before submission.”

“The organization adopted a "statement of values, code of ethics and conflict of interest policy" (the "coi statement') 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 secretary of the board is charged with ensuring the coi statement and addendum are signed each year by directors, while the organization's human resources department is charged with ensuring those documents are signed by officers and key employees. 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 2020 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 president/ceo. The committee performs an annual review of the president/ceo and establishes goals for the next fiscal year. The committee also gathers benchmarking data relevant to officers from comparable national nonprofit organizations and analyzes the salary survey results provided by make-a-wish foundation of america. The compensation packages for other officers and key employees are determined by the president/ceo. The president/ceo performs an annual review of the officer or employee and establishes goals for the next fiscal year. The president/ceo also evaluates benchmarking data relevant to officers and employees from comparable national nonprofit organizations and analyzes the salary survey results provided by make-a-wish foundation of america. The organization's written records include the (1) terms of the compensation arrangements, (2) a description of the comparable data relied upon by the executive committee, and (3) documentation of the decisions made by the executive committee.”

“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 organization makes its audited financial statements and form 990 available upon request and on its website. Governing documents and conflict of interest policies are also available upon request with inspection at an office of the organization.”

“The make-a-wish foundation of central & northern florida creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.”

“Make-a-wish foundation of central and northern florida granted 236 wishes in the 45 counties that our chapter serves during the fiscal year ended august 31, 2021. Through the dedication of volunteers and strong ties with individual and corporate donors, our chapter is able to grant the most heartfelt wishes of our children. The total cost of wishes granted for the fiscal year was $1,343,499. Of this amount, $84,653 was contributed by various vendors who provided in-kind contributions such as travel and travel services, transportation, lodging, and other services and use of facilities to complete a child's wish. For financial statement purposes, these amounts are included as contribution revenue and granted wish expense. For form 990, however, the irs requires these contributed services and use of facilities to be excluded from both revenue and expenses. In december 2019, an outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (covid-19) began. On march 10, 2020, in conjunction with the make-a-wish national medical advisory council, make-a-wish of america issued instructions to pause travel and large gathering wishes until deemed medically safe for our vulnerable population and their families. As of august 31, 2021, with the exception of regional travel, travel wishes are still paused. Prior to fiscal year 2020, travel wishes have been approximately 83% of the wishes granted and the number of granted wishes averaged approximately 268. In addition, the program expense ratio was impacted due to the make-a-wish foundation of central & northern florida's inability to grant the travel wishes. The program expense ratio was previously 74% in fiscal year ended august 31, 2019. The make-a-wish foundation of central & northern florida continues to evaluate all expenses and fundraising efforts in light of the impact of covid-19. National efforts are underway to return to wish granting and fundraising efforts when it is deemed medically safe.”