Transparency and Accountability Policy; Disclosure of Financial Information to the General Public

Section 11.01 - Purpose
By making accurate information about its finances publicly available, the corporation practices and encourages transparency and accountability to the general public. This policy will:
(a) indicate which documents and materials produced by the corporation are presumptively open to staff and/or the public;
(b) indicate which documents and materials produced by the corporation are presumptively closed to staff and/or the public; and
(c) specify the procedures whereby the open/closed status of documents and materials can be altered.

Section 11.02 - IRS documents (Form 1023 and Form 990)
The corporation shall provide its Internal Revenue Forms 1023 and 990 to the general public for inspection free of charge.

Section 11.03 - Means and Conditions of Disclosure
The corporation shall make available the aforementioned documents on its Internet website to be viewed and inspected by the general public.
(a) The documents shall be posted in a format that allows an individual using the Internet to access, download, view and print them in a manner that exactly reproduces the image of the original document filed with the IRS (except information exempt from public disclosure requirements, such as contributor lists).
(b) The website shall clearly inform readers that the document is available and provide instructions for downloading it.
(c) The corporation shall not charge a fee for downloading the information. Documents shall not be posted in a format that would require special computer hardware or software (other than software readily available to the public free of charge).
(d) The corporation shall inform anyone requesting the information where this information can be found, including the web address. This information must be provided immediately for in-person requests and within 7 days for mailed requests.

Section 11.04 - IRS Annual Information Returns (Form 990)
The corporation shall submit the Form 990 to its board of trustees prior to the filing of the Form 990. While neither the approval of the Form 990 or a review of the 990 is required under federal law, the corporation’s Form 990 shall be submitted to each member of the board of trustees via hard copy or email at least 10 days before the Form 990 is filed with the IRS.

Section 11.05 - Staff Records
All staff records shall be available for consultation by the staff member concerned or by their legal representatives. No staff records shall be made available to any person outside the corporation except to authorized governmental agencies. Within the corporation, staff records shall be made available only to those persons with managerial or personnel responsibilities for that staff member, except that staff records shall be made available to the board when requested.

Section 11.06 - Donor Records
All donor records shall be available for consultation by the donors concerned or by their legal representatives. No donor records shall be made available to any other person outside the corporation except to authorized governmental agencies. Within the corporation, donor records shall be made available only to those persons with managerial or personnel responsibilities for dealing with those donors, except that donor records shall be made available to the board when requested.

- Article XI of The Food Brigade Inc. Bylaws adopted 11/18/20