Washington Community Action Network

“MEMBERS. Washington CAN has 2 classes of members-- individual members and organizational members. Any individual who expresses an intention to support Washington CAN by promoting its purposes and programs is eligible to become an individual member and shall qualify for membership upon signing a statement to that effect. An organziation that agrees with the mission and purpose of Washington CAN shall be eligible for membership, subject to review and approval by the Board of Directors. Upon such approval, organizations may join by passing a resolution of agreement and paying dues according to the schedule approved by the Board of Directors, which is a sliding scale based on the organizational members size and budget.”

“MEMBERSHIP ELECTS THE BOARD. The Board consists of one director from each of Washington CANs organizational members, and a representative number of individual At-large Directors determined by the Board. Individual At-large Directors are elected by the general membership at the annual meeting. The Boards intention is to be representative of the states gender, ethnic, racial and geographic diversity.”

“DECISIONS RESERVED FOR MEMBERS. Under Washington corporation law, certain important decisions such as certain changes to the governing documents and decisions to merge, consolidate or dissolve require membership approval.”

“990 REVIEW PROCESS. The draft of the 990 is reviewed by the Executive Director, the Finance Director and a peer reviewer of the preparer. It is then reviewed by the Board Finance Committee. When all edits are completed, it is forwarded and presented to the entire Board of Directors. Questions, comments and corrections are strongly encouraged, and the importance and value of Board oversight is emphasized. The Board reviews and approves the 990 for filing. If corrections are made in response to questions from the directors, the final version is emailed to the Board before filing.”

“CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY MONITORING. The conflict of interest policy covers board members, officers, staff and volunteer leaders. It is the responsibility of board members, officers, staff and volunteers to disclose potential conflicts of interest. Determinations of whether a conflict exists and the review of conflicts are made at the Board level. An interested person shall be given the opportunity to disclose to the Board any facts that are material to the arrangements in question. After any discussion with the interested person, s/he shall leave the meeting while the Board discusses whether a possible conflict of interest exists. The remaining board members who are present and who have no financial interest in the arrangement in question shall then determine whether a conflict exists and the best resolution of the arrangement, which typically involves recusal of that person from any decision from which that person could benefit personally.”

“EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION. Washington CAN developed a pay scale that was approved by the Board of Directors which was based on a 2013 comparative analysis of compensation for directors of similar organizatins in the state and nation. Organizations were deemed to be similar based on mission, staff size, budget size and comparable ED functions. This payscale was revised and approved by the Board of Directors in 2015.”

“DISCLOSURE. Washington CAN may make financial statements, governing documents and conflict of interest policies available upon request, but we consider each request on a case-by-case basis. Of course our 990 returns and Form 1024 are made available to anyone upon request.”

“JOINT COSTS. The numbers here are so large because they include the variety of costs associated with our field door to door and phone canvasses. We do not allocate these costs using SOP 98-2 because we believe it would distort the reality of the quality of conversations our staff are able to have with members and the public about important policy issues. Our field and phone canvasses allow us to have what all research shows is the single most effective form of communication, namely person-to-person contact, with our supporters and members, and update them on our program, educate them on issues, answer questions, and encourage them to become active members, not to merely raise money. Although the field and phone canvasses do raise money, this fundraising strategy was chosen because programmatically a broad mass-membership base is vital to maintain WCANs accountability to low and moderate income people as well as for our strength, power and credibility with policy.”

“AUDIT COMMITTEE. In 2020, WCAN got a review rather than an audit, and the board audit committee played less of a role in that process. Board members were not interviewed prior to the start of the review. However, at the conclusion of the process, the reviewer gave a presentation at the fall board meeting and fielded questions from board members. The board approved the final review report.”