Make-A-Wish Foundation of Mississippi

“The executive committee consists of the officers of the board. The executive committee's role is to plan for the work of the board and delegate board work to board standing committees; to monitor and evaluate board operations; to take required action on routine or emergency matters, with the delegated powers and authorities of the full board, when the board is not in session. The full board must be informed of and ratify all actions taken by the executive committee.”

“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 president/ceo. The form 990 was then presented to the finance committee for their review. Subsequent to the committees approval, a complete copy of the final return was provided to all voting board 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.”

“The president/ceo's compensation was determined by the board of directors, consisting of independent persons. It was reviewed against national benchmarking salary studies, surveys done every few years by make-a-wish foundation of america, and by local salary surveys conducted by state organizations and by national benchmarking organizations. The boards discussions and decisions were contemporaneously documented. Documentation includes the terms of the transaction and the date it was approved, the members present during deliberations and those who voted on it, and the comparability data relied upon and how it was obtained. This process was last completed in 2023.”

“The form 990 is the only document available on the website.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“The make-a-wish foundation of mississippi chartered creates life changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 18 who have been determined to have a critical medical condition qualify for our wish program and no child who meets these criteria is denied our services. We strive to grant each child's one-true wish, whether that is to visit a theme park, swim with the dolphins, meet a dream celebrity, or countless other possibilities. The make-a-wish foundation of mississippi chartered has granted 109 wishes in fiscal year 2024. Total wishes granted for the fiscal year were $1,255,459. Of this amount, $547,368 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 expenses. For form 990, however, the irs requires the $217,009 of contributed services and use of facilities be excluded from both revenue and expenses.”