Western Growers Foundation

“The organization is comprised of members. The members are comprised of regular members, who grow, pack and ship fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and nuts in ca and az, and associate members who are aligned with agriculture. In 2009, a new class of members, known as national members, was established for individuals who are non-residents of ca and az.”

“The western growers foundation board of trustees and the western growers compensation committee review certain parts of form 990. The organization's cfo works closely with the outside tax firm it engages to prepare and review the form 990 return prior to submitting a draft to the trustees or the western growers compensation committee.”

“The board is charged with monitoring proposed or ongoing transactions for conflicts of interest and addressing any potential or actual conflicts. Pursuant to the conflicts of interest policy, an annual conflict of interest questionnaire, aimed at determining any family and business relationships and transactions or other transactions that may pose a potential conflict, is distributed to all covered persons (i.e., board members, officers and executive leadership or key employees). Covered persons are required to disclose real or potential conflicts at the time when such conflicts arise. When someone becomes a covered person and annually thereafter, each covered person is required to sign a statement affirming that he/she: (1) has received a copy of the conflicts or interest policy; (2) has read the policy and understands said policy; and (3) agrees to comply with all requirements of the policy, including completing the conflicts of interest acknowledgement and disclosure form. The board of trustees has directed in-house counsel to review the completed forms to assess whether any persons with actual or potential conflicts are informed via written communication. The procedures for addressing any conflict of interest includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1) the conflicting interest is fully disclosed to the board; (2) the interested person responds to factual questions related to the substance of the transaction or arrangement being considered, after which he/she shall leave the meeting; (3) the person with the conflict of interest is excluded from the discussion and approval of such transaction; (4) alternatives to the proposed transaction are investigated, competitive bids or comparable valuations are obtained; and (6) the transaction or action must be approved by a majority of disinterested persons.”

“Ceo compensation and benefits are not paid by the foundation. However, there are best practices in place for compensation and benefits paid by the related organizations.”

“While federal tax laws do not mandate the organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements be made available for public inspection, the organization makes these documents available upon request.”

“Officers of western growers foundation are employed and compensated by either western growers association (wga), fein 95-1362030 or western growers service corporation (wgsc), a wholly owned corporation of wga, fein 33-0783743. Wga reports 100% of the ceo's compensation and files the form w-2 and w-3. Wgsc reports 100% of the cfo's and other individual's compensation on w-2's and files form w-2 and w-3 for the employees that are compensated by wgsc. The officers are assigned duties to other related organizations (see schedule r for additional information regarding the related organizations). The officer's wage and benefit costs paid by wga are reported on wga's form 990 and for wgsc they are reported on form 1120.”

“Grants and other assistance to domestic organizations: western growers foundation receives requests from various tax-exempt entities for contributions to support a variety of initiatives undertaken by those non-related entities. Senior officers approve contributions to entities that are aligned with the issues or initiatives that are of importance to the organization and/or its members. The grants are for support of the recipient's mission to assist in various agricultural initiatives. The grantees spend the awards on events and initiatives that align with the mission of the organization.”