Florida State University Foundation Inc.

“The executive committee shall exercise the powers and authority of the board when the board is not in session. The committee shall include the chair, past chair, foundation president, treasurer, secretary, the university president or designee, the chair of the university board of trustees or designee, the president of the university faculty senate, and the chair of each standing committee. The committee shall consider, evaluate and analyze issues that have implications for changes to the board and make recommendations of appropriate action to the board. If the committee meets to exercise the powers and authority of the board when the board is not in session, the committee shall have no authority to alter, amend or repeal the articles of incorporation or bylaws or to elect trustees.”

“The following had a family relationship during the time period covered by this tax filing period: anne hamilton-hold and william t. Hold louis c. Taormina and marion j. Hargett”

“The organization has a trusteeship committee which is charged with determining the slate of officers and recommending candidates for election as regular trustees to the university president and the board. Regular trustees have voting privileges and are elected by majority vote of the voting trustees after recommendation by the trusteeship committee and consultation with the university president. Per the florida excellence in higher education act of 2018, signed into law on march 11, 2018, the university board of trustees shall approve board appointments, other than those members appointed by the trustee chair or president, to the florida state university foundation.”

“Per the florida excellence in higher education act of 2018, signed into law on march 11, 2018, the university board of trustees shall approve board appointments, other than those members appointed by the trustee chair or president, to the florida state university foundation.”

“1) the cfo reviews forms 990 and 990-t with the executive vice president and resolves any issues or questions with the independent accounting firm that prepares the forms. It is the cfo and executive vice president's responsibility to confirm that these forms represent the foundation's financial condition for the period being reported and do not contain any untrue statements or omit any material facts. 2) the foundation's board of trustees delegated to the audit committee the responsibility for the final review of the draft forms 990 and 990-t. 3) once the audit committee review is complete, the draft forms 990 and 990-t are provided to each voting board member of the board of trustees prior to filing the forms with the irs. Distribution may be in the form of electronic mail, notification of a link to a website or actual mailing of the document.”

“Annually all trustees are asked to complete a conflict of interest form. The board staff liaison monitors the process to ensure that completed forms are returned by all members with individual follow up when necessary. Hard copies of all forms are retained. It is the responsibility of the assistant secretary of the board to inform the board chair and committee chairpersons of any existing conflicts so that they can be sure that board members recuse themselves from any discussions and/or actions including votes on issues where there is a conflict of interest.”

“For calendar year 2018, the top management and officers reported on the fsu foundation form 990 are comprised of three employees of florida state university and the remainder are employees of the fsu foundation. Effective december 14, 2018, all employees of the fsu foundation transitioned to employees of florida state university, a related organization. For employees of florida state university, compensation for management is reviewed and set by the president of the university, or his designee, in accordance with the university's policies. These policies require that comparable data be used to determine that management is compensated fairly and competitively when compared to similar roles in other foundations nationally. For employees of the fsu foundation, various industry surveys of salaries at comparable university related advancement organizations and other sources with comparable positions are utilized to determine compensation for new hires and to periodically validate current salary levels to decide if adjustments are necessary.”

“The foundation's governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available upon request. The foundation's financial statements, form 990 and 990-t are available on the foundation's website and upon request for the same period of disclosure as set forth by irc section 6104(d).”

“Board member john e. Thrasher is an employee of florida state university, a related organization. He is not compensated by the florida state university foundation nor does he perform services for the foundation as a university employee. Florida state university has dual status as a state university and exempt 501(c)(3) organization, and is considered to be an applicable tax-exempt organization under section 4960 because of their dual status. Florida state university is responsible for tracking covered employees under section 4960 and paying any applicable tax.”

“Effect of implementing the gasb reporting model -24,097,136.”

“There has been no change to the process from the prior year.”

“Prior to july 1, 2018, the foundation presented its financial statements under the accounting and financial reporting standards of the financial accounting standards board (fasb). On march 11, 2018, the florida legislature passed and the governor signed into law chapter 2018-004, laws of florida, a provision that changed section 1004.28, florida statutes, which addresses university direct support organizations. With this change, the university board of trustees must approve all direct support organization board members. A key factor in determining whether a direct support organization should report under the accounting standards of fasb versus the governmental accounting standards board (gasb), is board control. With the change in the florida statute, the universtiy has control of the foundation, a direct support organization, and the fasb reporting model is no longer appropriate. Net assets for fiscal year ending june 30, 2018 are presented on 990 pt. X lines 30-32 to comply with gasb accounting and financial reporting standards. Total net assets under fasb at june 30, 2018 were $714,533,606. The conversion to gasb reduced net position at june 30, 2018 by $24,097,136 to $690,436,470. The reduction in net position was due to the elimination of $9,608,383 of endowment pledges receivable and a decrease of $14,488,753 due to the restatement of split-interest agreements and external trusts to deferred inflows of resources under gasb 81 irrevocable split-interest agreements. The reduction in net assets due to the conversion from fasb to gasb is reported on 990 pt. Xi, line 8 for -$24,097,136.”