Make a Wish Foundation of Central Coast and Southern Central Valley

“The board of directors, by resolution adopted by a majority of the directors then serving, may designate and appoint one (1) or more committees comprised of two (2) or more directors, and only of directors. Such committees, to the extent provided in the resolution of the board of directors, shall have all or a portion of the authority of the board of directors, except that no committee, regardless of the resolution of the board of directors, may: (a) fill vacancies on the board of directors or any committee of the board of directors; (b) amend or repeal the articles of incorporation or these bylaws or adopt new bylaws; (c) amend or repeal any resolution of the board of directors, (d) designate any other committee of the board of directors or appoint the members of any committee; or (e) approve any transaction (i) to which the corporation is a party and as to which one (1) or more directors has a material financial interest, or (ii) between the corporation and one (1) or more of its directors or between the corporation and any corporation or firm in which one (1) or more of its directors has a material financial interest. The board of directors may designate and appoint an executive committee to coordinate and oversee the actions of any committees that are appointed by the board of directors. In the event that the board of directors appoints an executive committee, actions proposed by any committees will be directed first to the executive committee for consideration, then the executive committee will present such recommendation or proposal to the board of directors for approval.”

“The board of directors approved an amendment to the organization's bylaws to reflect a recent name change resulting from a regional realignment. All references to the former name, make-a-wish tri-counties, have been updated to the new name, make-a-wish central coast and southern central valley, throughout the document. No other changes were made to the bylaws.”

“The board of directors has delegated the primary review of the form 990 to the chief executive officer. The organization's chief executive officer worked closely with an outside accounting firm to prepare and ensure accuracy of the form 990. The form 990 was reviewed by the chief executive officer, the treasurer and board chair prior to being provided to the board of directors. Each member of the board of directors was provided with a complete copy of the form 990 prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“The organization adoped a "statement of values, code of ethics and conflict of interest policy" with which all officers, directors, employees and volunteers are required to comply and acknowledge by signing, upon their initial involvement with the organization and annually thereafter, an "annual conflict of interest and ethics assurance statement" (the "coi statement"). The coi statement requires officers, directors and key employees to disclose the existence of any family and/or business relationships they may have with other officers, directors or key employees of the organization. The secretary of the board is charged with ensuring the coi statement and addendum are signed each year by directors, while the organization's human resources department is charged with ensuring those documents are sigend by officers and key employees. If any covered person discloses a potential or actual conflict, the following procedure is followed: (1) the conflicting interest is fully disclosed to the board; (2) the covered person responds to any factual questions from the board related to the disclosed conflict; and (3) the board, without the covered person, discusses the conflict and approves or disapproves the proposed transaction.”

“The executive committee of the board, comprised solely of independent directors, none of whom have a conflict of interest with respect to the compensation arrangement, was accountable for setting a reasonable compensation package for the ceo. The executive committee presented this package to the board of directors for approval. The board also developed, consistent with the organization's philosophy and principles, the annual performance goals and criteria to be used in determining variable compensation critera for the ceo. The organization also gathered benchmarking data relevant to ceo's from comparable southern california nonprofit organizations and other make-a-wish chapters. The organization's contemporaneously written records included the (1) terms of the compensation arrangements; (2) a description of the comparable data relied upon by the executive committee; and (3) documentation of the decision made by the board of directors. This process was last performed during fiscal 2023. The foundation does not have other officers who are compensated and does not have other employees who meet the definition of key employees.”

“While federal tax laws do not mandate that the organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements be made available for public inspection the organization makes these documents available upon request. Audited financial statements and the irs form 990 are also made available on the foundation's website.”

“Effective september 1, 2023, make-a-wish foundation of america reassigned four california counties, kern, kings, tulare, and inyo, to make-a-wish foundation of the tri-counties and changed the name of the foundation to make-a-wish foundation of central coast and southern central valley. An amendment to the articles of incorporation for the foundation to register the name change was filed with the state of california on march 4, 2024, and certified by the state.”

“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 central coast and southern central valley granted 131 life-changing wishes in the fiscal year ending august 31, 2024. The total cost of wishes granted for the fiscal year was $1,872,249. Of this amount, $191,176 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.”