Community Foundation for Mississippi

“The community foundation for mississippi, inc. Is organized and operates exclusively as a non-profit, non-stock issuing corporation. The foundation issues no shares and no member of the foundation receives any shares in the corporation. The members of the corporation are the individuals serving as the trustees on the board of trustees of the foundation. The members of the board of trustees are the governing body of the foundation. These members may not transfer a membership or any right connected to a membership. The foundation does not make any distributions of dividends or payments of any part of the income, profits or earnings to anyone - including the members of the corporation.”

“The independent accounting firm contracted by the foundation prepares the form 990 once the annual financial statement audit is nearing completion. The firm provides a completed draft of the return to the foundation staff. The foundation staff reviews the form for accuracy, completeness and clarity in reporting all aspects of the foundation's operations. Any revisions or adjustments are discussed and agreed upon with the accounting firm, and then reviewed by the president/ceo and the finance committee of the foundation. Once the accounting firm, president/ceo, and the finance committee are satisfied with the return, a final draft is provided to each member of the board of trustees for their review. Once this final draft is presented to the board of trustees, the return is filed with irs by the filing deadline.”

“Each trustee and key employee is required to annually disclose in a written and signed statement any interests which could give rise to a conflict. All possible conflicts as listed in these filings are duly noted and considered by the foundation's president/ceo and vp of operations during the year as topics arise on the agenda before the board. In addition, all agenda topics before the board and board committees are considered in light of any possible conflicts with the members. Members are instructed to notify the foundation's president/ceo and/or vp of operations for changes during the year to their reported possible conflicts.”

“Compensation for the president/ceo position is determined originally by a search committee and then monitored by the finance committee, both of which are appointed by the chairman and the board of the foundation. These committees are composed of the chairman, current board members, former board members and community leaders experienced with other non-profit organizations in our service area. The finance committee investigates the compensation of ceos of other local non-profits as well as the historical compensation paid for this position by the foundation. The committee considers this compensation survey information along with the prevailing economic climate and the foundation's financial condition to develop the ceo compensation package. The committee presents the compensation package for review and approval by the executive committee of the board. This entire process is documented in the meeting minutes of the search committee, the finance committee, the executive committee and board of trustees.”

“The community foundation for mississippi provides public access to our annual audited financial statements and our annual form 990 as filed with the irs. This information is available to the general public on our website at www.formississippi.org we also provide electronic or paper copies by request as well as make these documents available for public inspection at our office.”

“In december 2015, the foundation received as a donation a leasehold interest of 1,858 acres of timber rights referred to as a timber purchase and cutting agreement (the "tpc") in northern alabama. The tpc is a 99 year agreement that primarily gives the tpc owner the right to grow and harvest timber for 87 more years on certain properties in which the timber rights were owned by the donor. Additionally, the tpc owner also has recreational rights for the term of the agreement. There are no annual payments associated with the tpc and the tpc owner is only subject to property taxes for timber growing purposes ($2.50 per acre). There is no reforestation expense for the tpc owner during the last 24 years of the agreement, as the ownership of any acreage clear- cut during that time period will revert back to the landowner. Additionally, there is an option for the landowner to buy out the rights to the tpc from the tpc owner at the 50 and 75 year anniversaries. Additionally, if there is any land needed for mineral use by the landowner, the landowner would have to pay the tpc owner the fair market value of all standing timber as well as the value of the loss of future growing rights for the term of the use on the parcels being used. The fair market value of the tpc was originally appraised at $2,300,000 by an independent third party appraiser. The tpc will be re-appraised every 5 years from the date of donation. In years that an appraisal is not obtained, management estimates the changes in fair market value based on current inventory estimates and market prices as received from the timber management company. Any changes in fair market value are recorded as unrealized gains or losses in the consolidated statement of activities.”

“ROUNDING -1.”

“Community foundation for mississippi does have a finance committee. This committee is always chaired by a board member with board members and non-board member volunteers with financial backgrounds serving on the committee. The number of members on the finance committee is determined each year by the board chairman. The finance committee is responsible for reviewing the annual audit and form 990 and recommending approval or modification of these documents to the board. The committee also meets at least quarterly to review the monthly in-house financial statements. No one from the foundation staff is allowed to serve on the finance committee. At least one member of the finance committee is required to meet the standard of a "financial expert" - one who has the financial education and experience needed to understand, analyze and reasonably assess the financial statements as well as the competency of the auditing firm. The chairman of the finance committee for the year ending 3-31-25 is mr. Mark fields, retired cpa. Duties and responsibilities of finance committee: * select an independent auditor. * review of annual audited financial statements and form 990 for recommendation of action to the full board. * work closely with the auditor to monitor the foundation's financial condition. * discuss any management problems disclosed by the auditor, if any, with staff and ensure that recommended changes in procedures are made. * ensure that the foundation has an open door policy toward fraud. * review monthly in-house financial statements and budgets as prepared by the foundation staff. * meet regularly enough to fulfill the requirements stated above.”