Documents required to meet new National Standards

Governance & Mission Docs

• Written Job Descriptions or Responsibilities for Board Members
• Demonstration of ongoing training and development for Board Members
• Annual Report
• Governing Board Nomination Process and Demographic Data
• Corporate Minutes—evidence of the board’s oversight of a development strategy for operations and funds

Finance and Legal

• IRS Form 990 for Most Current Year
• Annual Audit (or Financial Review)

Policies

• Whistleblower Policy
• Written Record Retention Policy
• Method for determining CEO Compensation
• Board resolution indicating foundation has written personnel policies that comply with federal, state and local requirements
• Oversight of Geographic Affiliates-list of affiliates, board resolution indicating control, representative agreement, copy of policies of affiliates where policies differ from lead foundation

Gifts

• Procedures for accepting gifts of illiquid assets
• Development Strategy for operations and funds

Education and Community Leadership

• Process for assessment of the impact of grantmaking
• Examples of how the foundation is tracking progress of evaluating impact of community leadership

 

Documents Required for Pension Protection Act Provisions

Governance & Mission Docs

• Corporate Minutes—where the donor has some participation on a selection committee for grants to individuals for travel, study (such as scholarship funds), the board’s approval of the selection committees, and the board’s approval of procedures.

Finance and Legal

• Public Availability of IRS Form 990-T
• Investment and Spending Policy
  • - Guidelines to prevent violation of the excess business holding rules for assets held in donor advised funds (guidelines appear in either Investment and Spending Policy or Gift/Fund Acceptance Policy)

Policies

• Gift/Fund Acceptance Policy
  
• - Guidelines to prevent violation of the excess business holding rules for assets held in donor advised funds (guidelines appear in either Investment and Spending Policy or Gift/Fund Acceptance Policy)

Gifts

• Guidelines for Donor Advisors
  
• - Prohibition against donors or related parties from using advised funds to fulfill pledges
• - Prohibition against donors or related parties from using advised funds to secure benefits from distribution recipient
• - Prohibition against grants to individuals from donor advised funds
• - Prohibition against donors or related parties from receiving grants, loans, compensation or similar payments from donor advised funds

Funds

• Gift Letter
  
• - Letter acknowledging gifts to funds that are donor advised funds include language that the community foundation has exclusive legal control over the contributed assets

Grants

• Due Diligence Policy
  
• - A process for determining which grants from funds legally defined as donor advised funds require the exercise of expenditure responsibility
  
• - A policy or procedure for exercising expenditure responsibility when required for grants from funds legally defined as donor advised

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