Make-A-Wish Foundation of Alabama

“The board of directors, by resolution adopted by a majority of the directors then serving, may designate and appoint one or more committees comprised of directors, each of which shall consist of one or more directors. Such committees, to the extent provided in said resolution, shall have and exercise the authority of the board of directors in the management of the corporation, except no such committee may exercise the authority of the board of directors in reference to the following matters: (i) filling vacancies on, or increasing or decreasing the members of, the board of directors or any committee of the board of directors; (ii) adoption, amendment or repeal of these bylaws or the certificate of formation; or (iii) any matters prohibited by law.”

“The foundation worked closely with an independent public accounting firm to prepare form 990. The foundation's president and ceo will review the draft form 990 prepared by the accounting firm. The return will then be sent to the board treasurer for their review. Subsequent to the treasurer's review, a complete copy of form 990 will be provided to all voting members prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“The foundation maintains a conflict of interest and ethics statement as provided by the make-a-wish foundation of america for each officer, employee, board member, and volunteer. Such statements must be signed upon date of hire, election, or commencement of volunteer service, and at least annually thereafter. The signed statements are then submitted to and reviewed by the volunteer manager if they are from volunteers, and the president/ceo if from staff and board members. Review of the statements is monitored by the president/ceo. The procedures for addressing any conflict of interest of which the president/ceo becomes aware includes, but are not limited to, the following (1) determining the nature of the conflict via verbal or written communication with the interested person (2) fully disclosing conflicting interests to the board (3) the conflicted person recuses himself-herself 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 & ceo's compensation was determined by the board of directors, consisting of independent persons. It was reviewed against national benchmarking salary surveys, surveys done every few years by make-a-wish foundation of america, and by local salary surveys conducted by state organizational and national benchmarking organizations. The board's discussion and decisions were contemporaneously documented. The documentation of the decision includes (a) the terms of the transaction that was approved and the date is was approved, (b) the members in attendance of the meeting, and (c) the comparability data obtained and relied upon by the board and how the data was obtained. The foundation does not have other officers who are compensated and has no employees who meet the definition of key employees. The same process listed above is used for other staff, using the same instruments. Salaries of staff other than the president & ceo are decided by the president & ceo in consultation with the employee's immediate supervisor within limits set by the board-approved budget. All salary increases are based on metrics from performance reviews.”

“Audited financial statements are made available on our website and upon request.”

“It is the founding principle of our vision to grant the wish of every eligible child, between the ages of 2 1/2 and 18. For wish kids, just the act of making their wish come true can give them the courage to comply with their medical treatments. With our wish-making process, we strive to bring a sense of excitement and hope during extremely difficult times and deliver a joyful life-changing experience whether the wish is a princess party, swim with the dolphins, or the countless other possibilities dreamed up by the magical mind of a child. The make-a-wish foundation of alabama granted 214 life-changing wishes in the fiscal year ending august 31, 2024. The total cost of wishes granted for the fiscal year was $3,911,477. Of this amount, $406,190 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 this amount be excluded from both revenue and expense.”