Direct Relief

“Direct relief's chief financial officer distributes a copy of the final version of the 990 to all current board members, requesting they review the 990 prior to filing. The board members are asked to review and are given an opportunity to raise issues and request clarifications, if any. Once this process is complete and board approval is obtained, the 990 is filed. Documentation of the distribution to the board, as well as the board members' responses and questions, if any, are maintained by the chief financial officer.”

“Within thirty (30) days of the beginning of each fiscal year, all directors, officers and board committee members must complete a disclosure form regarding possible conflicts of interest. Disclosure is also required of a director, officer, employee and board committee member at any time when the interest of such person (or member of his or her family) could affect the activities, property, employees, or services of direct relief, or involves any potential conflict of interest as more specifically defined in direct relief's conflict of interest policy. When a director, officer, board committee member or employee has a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest in a proposed transaction, that individual shall recuse himself or herself (i.e., leave the room), and shall not participate in the deliberation on the merits of the proposal or the vote. In all cases, the existence and nature of the relationship or the conflict of interest disclosed, the interested person's recusal, and the vote of the other directors is reflected in the minutes of the meeting of the board or applicable board or other committee.”

“The compensation committee of the board of directors oversees all compensation matters on behalf of the board of directors. The compensation committee reviews compensation benchmarking analysis and makes recommendations to the executive committee regarding compensation paid to executive staff (ceo, coo/cfo) and other key staff positions as they may determine are appropriate. The benchmarking review includes a comparative analysis of compensation paid by direct relief to compensation paid by local, sector, and national nonprofit organizations as well as local for-profit entities. Decisions regarding executive staff's compensation are the sole responsibility of the board of directors. No member of the staff, including the chief executive officer and the chief operating officer/chief financial officer, is a member of the board of directors, and the board of directors may not delegate the authority to set executive compensation to a member of the executive staff. Compensation of the chief executive officer and chief operating officer/chief financial officer was last reviewed by the compensation committee and the executive committee of the board of directors in september 2018.”

“Direct relief makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy, compensation policy, donation policy, financial statements, and form 990 (the latter two going back to fiscal year 2001) available to the public on its website.”

“The compensation reported is for the calendar year 2017, in line with the form 990 requirements of reporting compensation paid or earned for the calendar year ending with or within the organization's tax year. Staff compensation is governed by organizational policy, available for reference on our website at (http://www.directrelief.org/about/finance/compensation/) executive staff (ceo, coo/cfo) compensation is determined solely by the board of directors. 100% of the ceo's compensation was paid from funds provided by the direct relief foundation.”

“Direct relief is the only nonprofit humanitarian aid organization in the united states licensed to distribute pharmaceutical products in all 50 u.s. States, as well as the first and only nonprofit humanitarian aid organization in the u.s. To be designated as a verified-accredited wholesale distributor by the national association of boards of pharmacy. Direct relief is among the largest-volume providers of medical donations to its partners worldwide. Direct relief's programs involve a wide range of functions, several of which require specialized expertise and licensing. Among these functions are identifying key local providers of health services in such areas; working to identify the unmet needs of people in the areas; mobilizing essential medicines, supplies, and equipment that are requested and appropriate for the circumstances; and managing the many details inherent in storing, transporting, and distributing such goods to the partner organizations in the most efficient manner possible. When direct relief receives an in-kind donation, accounting standards require a "fair market value" to be assigned to the donation. Donations of medicines, medical equipment, and medical supplies have long been an integral part of direct relief's humanitarian assistance programs. In assigning a fair market value to the in-kind medical donations received, direct relief uses a careful, conservative approach that complies with the relevant accounting standards, and the spirit and purpose of disclosure, transparency, and accountability to the public. Specifically, direct relief uses the following methodology in determining the fair market value of in-kind medical donations: contributions of u.s. Food and drug administration (fda)-approved pharmaceuticals, branded and generic, are recorded at estimated wholesale value, which approximates fair value, on the date received, based on the wholesale acquisition cost(wac) as published in the truven health analytics redbook, an industry-recognized drug and pricing reference guide for pharmaceuticals in the united states. For the year ended june 30th, 2018 the organization adopted a policy of using monthly pricing information available from the redbook online service provided by truven health analytics, an ibm watson health company. Wac is the standard used by many u.s. States as the federal upper limit pricing for drugs purchased under the medicaid program. If the wholesale value is not available in the online redbook source, the wholesale value of the contribution is based on other appropriate internet pricing sources. Alternative methods of valuing a drug donation would result in a higher valuation. For example, the commonly cited average wholesale price (awp), which also is published in the redbook, is approximately twenty percent higher than wac for a particular product, according to the redbook. Direct relief determined that wac is the more appropriate measure. Because pricing differences exist for generic and branded products, it is important to note direct relief applies the wac value to each specific product's national drug code, which relates to the specific manufacturer and formulation of a drug. This distinction is significant because it reflects, for example, the lower price (and fair market value) of a generic product received through donation, compared to higher-priced branded product. For non-fda-approved pharmaceuticals, for example, products manufactured for use in non-u.s. Markets, the organization uses independent pricing guides to determine the fair market value of the particular manufacturer's specific formulation. The sources of such pricing information vary, but relevant information may include the price paid by wholesalers or other third-party buyers, a price negotiated by an organization (such as the clinton health access initiative) for a particular drug, or other such reasonable basis. Contributions of medical equipment and supplies are also recorded at estimated wholesale value”