Fire Foundation of Denver

“Board members James Daniel (JD) and Kate Flynn are husband and wife.”

“The current operating committees of the Board of Directors are the following -the Executive committee, the Marketing and Public Relations committee, the Grants Committee, the Development Committee, the Friends of Fire Committee and the Finance Committee. The Finance committee is new, was formed in August of 2024 and met 3 times during 2024. While all Board meetings are documented timely through contemporaneous minutes of the meetings, the Committees of the Board are documented primarily through agendas outlining the various issues to be addressed at the respective meetings. It is important to note that only the Grant committee has limited approval authority to take actions on behalf of the organization without obtaining Board approval, subject to certain monetary thresholds and obtaining approval from the President and Treasurer. Beginning in 2025, the various committees will begin taking contemporaneous minutes of what occurred at each meeting, especially when that respective committee will be making a formal recommendation for action by the entire Board of Directors.”

“After the Finance committee of the Board of Directors reviewed a preliminary draft of the Form 990 on February 24, 2025, raising questions and providing guidance and advice, a revised draft version of the document was provided to the full Board of Directors. At the regularly scheduled Board meeting on March 3, 2025, the Treasurer of the organization reviewed the document highlighting important areas of the Form 990, including Part VI - Governance, Management and Disclosure. The Treasurer addressed any questions or comments the members of the Board raised. Thereafter, final changes were made and incorporated into the final return before filing the document electronically.”

“The Fire Foundation of Denver (FIRE) maintains a policy manual containing guidelines and policies for its Business and Governance practices. Included in this manual is a "Conflict of Interests policy" which addresses the persons concerned, key areas where conflicts may arise, the nature of the conflicting interest, interpretation of the policy, disclosure procedures and annual submission requirements. Board members and the Executive Director must annually disclose interests in which a conflict could arise and abstain from voting on matters where a conflict exists or is perceived to exist. In addition, each member of the Board, Officers and the Executive Director must annually complete and submit to the Treasurer both a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement and Gift disclosure form by March 15th.”

“The Executive committee of the Board is tasked with the responsibility of monitoring and overseeing the performance of the Executive Director (ED) and in completing an evaluation of that employee. Additionally, the Executive committee serves as the compensation committee of the Board and, in doing so, is given the responsibility to ensure that the ED's compensation is fair, reasonable and not excessive. In doing so, the Executive committee performs a review of similar-sized, peer organizations in the Denver metro area and also reviews local, regional and national compensation and benefit surveys for additional insight and guidance.”

“The Fire Foundation of Denver (FIRE) makes its governing documents and financial statements available to the public upon request. In addition, it makes its annual report and year-end financial statements available to the public on its website at: firefounddationdenver.org.”

“In 2024, we commenced the Spark school initiative. Spark schools represent schools evaluating the implementation of inclusive education for their parish and school community in the coming year. In 2024, four parish schools engaged in professional development alongside our Partner schools and received exclusive access to training from a nationally recognized firm focusing on Inclusive education. Total funding for the Spark school initiative by FIRE in 2024 was $8,000.”