Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central & South Texas

“The foundation worked closely with an independent public accounting firm engaged to prepare the return. The draft return prepared by the accounting firm was reviewed by the treasurer and chief executive officer. The final form 990 was distributed to the entire board prior to the time it was filed.”

“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 by 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 coordinator if they are from volunteers, and the ceo if from staff and board members. Review of the statements is monitored by the chief executive officer. The procedures for addressing any conflicts of interest of which the chief executive officer 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 compensation of the organization's ceo is reviewed and discussed by the executive committee. It is then proposed to the board of directors for approval before it is discussed and presented to the ceo. The process for determining compensation for the ceo was undertaken in 2014 during the organization's search for a ceo. The committee gathered benchmarking data relevant to officers from comparable national nonprofit organizations and analyzed the salary survey results provided by make-a-wish foundation of america.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available upon direct request. The financial statements and form 990 can be found on the organization's website at cstx.wish.org.”

“The make-a-wish foundation of central & south texas grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”

“The program staff of the make-a-wish foundation of central & south texas is proud of their many accomplishments. Working with over 285 incredible volunteers, the program department granted a total of 238 wishes to the deserving children throughout their 40 country territory this past fiscal year. Dedicated volunteers in austin, san antonio, laredo and surrounding cities, help to create magical memories and bring smiles to the faces of these amazing kids. We are very proud of our volunteer program and the individuals who give their time and their talents to make dreams come true. Granting wishes can be costly. It is the program staff's responsibility to keep those costs at a minimum. A big part of that is the securing of in-kind donations from hotels, restaurants, retailers and other organizations in our community to off-set those costs. The chapter has been successful in controlling increases in wish costs. Lastly, the program staff has worked hard to create a highly regarded internship program, utilizing talented students from the local colleges. During our recruitment time, we are always thrilled to learn of the interest we have from so many students who have a passion for our mission. We pride ourselves on the fact that our interns benefit not only from the hands-on experience we offer in working with our wish kids and their families to create magical experiences, but also from learning the inner-workings of a non-profit in all areas; fundraising, event planning, public relations and marketing. The total cost of wishes granted for the fiscal year was $3,176,202. Of this amount, $437,213 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 the $437,213 of contributed services and use of facilities to be excluded from both revenue and expense.”