The Friendship Bridge

“The organization has an executive committee composed of select members of the board of directors (all members are part of the board of directors) that is authorized to take action on urgent matters when it is not feasible to call together the entire board. Certain actions as described in the charter require full board approval.”

“The form 990 preparation is coordinated by appropriate friendship bridge staff; completed by our outside accountants, grf cpas, who prepare the annual audited financial statements; reviewed by the president & ceo and the cfo; and then submitted to the audit committee. It is then sent to the entire board of directors prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“Attestation of compliance with the conflict of interest policy is an annual requirement for all board and staff and is kept on file at friendship bridge offices. After a board member discloses the existence of an actual or potential conflict of interest, the remaining board members discuss the matter in the absence of the interested board member, decide whether a conflict exists, and, if so, whether it is in the best interests of friendship bridge to take the action or engage in the transaction in which the board member has an interest. The process is similar for an employee with a conflict of interest, except that the entire board would discuss the conflict.”

“Annually, an executive committee, made up of independent directors, researches comparable nonprofit organizations for compensation data of similarly situated ceos or executive directors. In january and february 2024, the committee utilized the guidestar nonprofit compensation report to determine the competitiveness of our ceo's compensation. This report compiles over 140,000 individual positions at nearly 90,000 non-profit organizations. An upward adjustment to our ceo's base salary was agreed upon to keep her close to the industry averages. Based on this review, the committee recommended approval of the compensation to the full board. The deliberations and decisions of the executive committee were documented simultaneously by email in communications among the committee members and with the full board. Decisions regarding approved compensation were also communicated by emails to management.”

“Friendship bridge financial statements are available on our web site. The governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available upon request.”

“Other professional fees: program service expenses 886,543. Management and general expenses 118,514. Fundraising expenses 40,201. Total expenses 1,045,258.”

“CURRENCY GAIN 178,728.”