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The Grand Rapids Community Foundation's Policies and Procedures

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, also known as the American Competitiveness and Corporate Accountability Act of 2002, was enacted after a number of corporate accounting scandals rocked the business world and ruined the finances and reputations of several well-known companies. Sarbanes-Oxley is designed to restore trust in American companies. Its regulations provide oversight to publicly traded corporations. While nonprofits are exempt from the regulations, we and other community foundations want to make sure our business practices are solid.

The Grand Rapids Community Foundation operates in compliance with the National Standards for Community Foundations as set forth by the Council on Foundations.

The Community Foundation has voluntarily adopted numerous policies and procedures to further guarantee that how we conduct our business is not only legal, but ethical.

Our policies and procedures include:

Records retention. The destruction and/or retention of financial and other transactional records is important. Not only do we want to provide an open record of our activities, we are committed to keep a donor's intent into perpetuity. That's why our rigorous records policy exceeds most standards for document storage. The Board of Trustees developed and approved the policy in 2005.
Audit committee. Community volunteers and Trustees with strong backgrounds in accounting and finance work closely with our auditors and staff to oversee accounting and financial reporting processes as well as internal controls. This committee was established in 2004.
Whistleblower policy. Employees who report unethical, dishonest or fraudulent activity will have their complaints thoroughly investigated and are protected from retribution. We added this policy in 2005.
Investment review committee. Community volunteers and Trustees review Foundation investment performance each quarter, review managers and recommend changes in strategy and direction when necessary.
990 Posting and Audit. The Grand Rapids Community Foundation completes a 990 and independent audit each year. Both documents are available for public inspection by calling the Foundation at 616.454.1751.
Conflict of Interest. Each year, our Trustees, committee members and staff are required to sign a conflict of interest statement, which discloses any potential conflicts they might have with the Community Foundation. Further, resource committee (grant approving) members and board members are not allowed to vote on grants in which they have a known conflict.
Foundation Standards. Grand Rapids Community Foundation is one of the first community foundations nationwide permitted to use the National Standards Seal. The endorsement comes from the Council on Foundations (COF), a national professional association based in Washington, D.C. Its Community Foundations National Standards program is the first of its kind in the United States.