Portland State University Foundation

“Portland state university foundation provides support for the private fundraising efforts of portland state university and manages privately donated funds for the benefit of the university. The private fundraising efforts of the university result in the foundation receiving gifts and pledges for the benefit of the university. Such gifts and pledges derive from multiple sources, including cash, checks, securities, personal and real property, and include endowment gifts to be invested in perpetuity, remainder interests in charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities, and other gifts for the benefit of the university and its affiliates. The foundation is responsible for appropriate receipting and prudent management of gifts and pledges. The foundation, through its volunteer board of trustees, engages in private fundraising with these constituencies for the benefit of the university. The foundation board enhances the development of the university through its relationships, resources and guidance.”

“Form 990, part vi, section b, line 11a to protect the privacy of our donors, schedule b is redacted from the version of the 990 that was reviewed by the committees and the board of trustees.”

“Form 990, part vi, section b, line 11b the form 990 is carefully reviewed in draft form by the members of the foundation's finance and audit committee. The form 990 is discussed in detail at the audit committee meeting in january. Kpmg, the tax preparer, attended the audit committee meeting. All reviewers are given time to respond to any revisions. After incorporation of all revisions and approximately one week prior to filing, the final form 990 is sent electronically to all members of the board of trustees, with an e-mail calling their attention to portions of the form most likely to be read by the public and funders.”

“Form 990, part vi, section b, line 12c the purpose of the conflict of interest policy is to protect the foundation's interest when it is contemplating entering into a transaction or arrangement that might benefit the private interest of an officer or trustee of the foundation. Pursuant to the conflict of interest policy, any interested person must disclose the existence of his or her financial interest and must be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the board president, and to trustees and members of committees with board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement. The determination whether a conflict of interest exists shall be made by the board of trustees. Pending such determination, the interested person shall recuse himself or herself from participation in the review of and voting upon the transaction or arrangement in which that person has a possible conflict of interest. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably attainable under circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested trustees whether the transaction or arrangement is in the foundation's best interest and for its own benefit and whether the transaction is fair and reasonable to the foundation and shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement in conformity with such determination. The conflict of interest policy is monitored by an annual distribution of questionnaires to all officers, trustees and key employees. Each year, the organization has a 100% response rate to the questionnaires. If the board determines that an interested person has failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, the board shall take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action. Each trustee, principal officer and member of a committee with board delegated powers annually shall sign a statement which affirms that such person has received a copy of the conflict of interest policy, has read and understands the policy, has agreed to comply with the policy, and understands that the foundation is a charitable organization and that in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes.”

“Form 990, part vi, section b, line 15 the personnel committee, comprised of independent members of the board of trustees, determined and approved compensation for the president & ceo and other officers of the organization based on comparability data (such as compensation surveys and forms 990 of other organizations) and performance evaluation. A series of meetings took place ending may 29, 2014 and the personnel committee documented the basis for its determination concurrently with making the compensation determination.”

“Form 990, part vi, section c, line 19 the foundation's audited financial statements are posted on the organization's website. The foundation's governing instruments, conflict of interest policies, and other documents and policy statements may be made available upon request.”

“Form 990, part vi, section a, line 4 bylaws were changed to allow the psu president to be a voting ex-officio member of the board of trustees. Articles of incorporation were updated to removed outdated information.”