Martha and Mary Lutheran Services

“The organization has one class of members. These members consist of those member congregations that are affiliated with the organization. Each member congregation can designate three individual persons to serve as delegates to the organization. The delegates elect the corporation's Board of Trustees and approve substantial issues.”

“Each member congregation can designate three individual persons to serve as delegates to the organization. The delegates elect the organization's Board of Trustees and approve substantial issues.”

“There are defined "substantial issues" that must be approved by a vote of the delegates: 1) acquisition or sale of real property; 2) approve the application of a church congregation to become a member; 3) establish or dissolve a subsidiary organization; 4) sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the organization or a subsidiary; 5) termination of a member congregation; 6) corporate borrowing by the organization or subsidiary which will be secured by an encumbrance on corporate real property; and 7) amend the articles of incorporation. Approved substantial issues of the subsidiary Martha and Mary Health Services do not have any force or effect without the consent of HUD.”

“Management reviews the Form 990 prior to the completed form being submitted to the Board. A copy of the completed 990 is provided to each Board member for their review and comments. A subcommittee of the Board undertakes a specific review of the 990 and provides its recommendation for approval to the entire Board. The 990 is approved by the Board prior to submission to the IRS.”

“Each year and upon selection to the Board, all board trustees and employee officers are required to complete a form stating that they understand the policy and that there has been no contravention of the policy by themselves or family during the year, or if there was a conflict it was fully disclosed at the time. In the case of a conflict, trustees will recuse themselves. Board trustees and all employees, including employee-officers, are required to report any potential conflict of interests whenever they arise. The Governance Committee determines whether conflicts exist, and reviews actual conflicts of interest to determine appropriate action. Also, each year prior to the preparation of the Form 990, all trustees and employee-officers who served during the year are provided with a questionnaire specifically tailored to the requirements of Form 990.”

“The Board Personnel Committee sets the compensation package for the CEO utilizing compensation benchmarks and additional parameters related to the constraints of Board-approved budget guidelines. The CEO and HR Director use benchmarks from Leading Age Washington to establish a starting wage and determine a fair and equitable wage range for the Director of Finance position within Martha & Mary. The Board President reviews and signs off on any additional wage increases for the Director of Finance position beyond the starting wage. This past year, the entire Board also reviewed the wages of compensation and a rough draft of performance management methodology for all key positions including the Director of Finance. The last compensation review was completed in March 2014.”

“Our financial information is published in our annual report and is distributed to our supporters and the greater community. Audited financial statements, governing documents and conflict of interest policy are not generally available to the public.”

“A committee may recommend a course of action to the Board, but would not independently act on behalf of the Board. Committee reports to the Board are integrated into the Board Minutes.”

“Our member congregations faithfully provide delegates at membership meetings. And last, but not least, the Trustees on our Board are integral to the success of the governance and oversight of Martha and Mary. In addition to the thousands of hours in our subsidiaries, there were approximately 380 hours of volunteer service during the year. Volunteer hours were determined through a combination of tracking where possible and estimates.”