Policies on the Ethical Utilization and Disbursement of Resources obtained thru Contributions and Grants
Costs of Obtaining Funds
It shall be the Policy of the Blue Sky Institute (herein referred to as BSI) to allow no commissions, fees, salaries or any other compensation of monetary value to be made to any individual, group or agency for the activities involved in the obtaining of Grants and Contributions made to BSI.
It shall be the Policy of the Blue Sky Institute (herein referred to as BSI) to allow no commissions, fees, salaries or any other compensation of monetary value to be made to any individual, group or agency for the activities involved in the obtaining of Grants and Contributions made to BSI. For example, it is within the law for a non-profit organization to employ a “Professional Fundraiser” who is able to keep a percentage of the funds they raise for the “service” of raising the funds. This practice appears less than completely ethical in the eyes of the management of BSI and therefore, no payment in any form will be permitted for any efforts made to raise funds. All fundraising activities shall be conducted by people willing to volunteer their time and efforts to such fundraising without any incentive of obtaining any compensation for their time in any way other than the compensation of the satisfaction of having helped a worthy cause.
In accordance with the intent of this policy to maximize the proportion of contributed resources actually employed in the furtherance of the objectives of BSI, all efforts shall be made to avoid the paying out of fees that are not absolutely essential to the carrying out of the function of BSI. Exceptions to this for which there is no alternative to be able to solicit donations are policies such as the “administrative registration fee” that is required by Utah State Code for organizations to “solicit contributions for Charitable Purposes” (including education). We feel that this is not an ethical policy imposed by the state of Utah, however we comply with state laws for charitable organizations as required by our tax-exempt status.
Policy on Salaries, Wages, and other Compensations
Paid for Services or Goods used by
Blue Sky Institute
In the occasion that services performed for BSI by individual(s) warrant compensation from BSI, then BSI shall make compensation to such individual(s) for such services, subject to the following Policies:
1. It shall be the Policy of BSI to pay a “living wage” to anyone who performs duties for BSI, for which BSI must pay wages. A “living wage” is defined as a wage that allows for sufficient purchasing power to obtain the necessities of “living” in today’s society. Thus it must be sufficient to pay for such required things as food, clothing and shelter for the person performing the work or service.
2. It shall be the Policy of BSI to allow for no excessive or unmerited compensations for services rendered on behalf of BSI. This Policy is intended to prevent excessive diversion of resources obtained by BSI into compensations for services performed. The maximum compensation package that can be paid to any one individual shall be no more than $50,000.00 per year for the total of all compensations made for any and all services rendered by such individual on behalf of BSI. Thus if an individual is working at an Hourly Rate of $20 per hour, and works a total of 3,000 hours in a year performing services on behalf of BSI, this individual must donate or make an in-kind contribution of the earnings over those which together with the cost of other benefits such as Health Insurance totals $50,000.00. This policy shall take precedence over any and all other agreements and limit the total amount of compensation to $50,000.00 This figure shall include the sums of all wages, bonuses, insurance coverage and any other compensation of value made to an individual for services performed. Thus, in our example, if the person working the 3,000 hours has Health Insurance coverage provided by BSI as part of a compensation package, and this coverage is valued based on the cost to BSI at $5,000.00 per year, then the total in wages and other compensations would be limited to only $45,000.00. This individual would be required to count the balance of wages earned as an in kind contribution to BSI and may be entitled to some Tax benefits thereby.
It is not the intent of this policy to set the usual or customary compensation package at the Maximum Level, unless services rendered unquestionably require such a large compensation package. Most workers will be compensated for full time employment at a level closer to one half of this maximum limit, or $25,000.00 per year, whenever such is still within the boundaries of the Policy to compensate with a “living wage”.
It shall be the policy to pay a living wage to anyone who performs duties for BSI, for which BSI can pay wages. Thus for services such as Teaching, Assisting Teaching, Accounting and other duties which may require labor to be performed, and for which volunteer help is not a viable alternative, a wage sufficient to compensate for the time spent in performance of duties shall be paid. This shall not include any work done in connection with the raising of funds or providing of information to individuals and organizations that may make unsolicited contributions to BSI.
Maximum Compensation Limits shall only be modified to the extent of maintaining an even purchasing power to that existing at the first quarter of 2001 levels. No increases in excess of the rate of inflation shall be permitted. In the event that the governing body of BSI determines that the rate of inflation has reduced the purchasing power represented by it’s compensation packages by 10% of First Quarter 2001 levels, then the question of whether or not to increase wages or other compensation will be taken into consideration and ONLY under the combined conditions of approval by 100 percent of the members of the Board of Directors together with the accepted assessment of the purchasing power of the highest permitted compensation package due to inflation has decreased by at least 10% shall these herein accepted Maximum Allowable Compensation Package values be raised to a level not to exceed at any time the Purchasing Power represented by these Limits. This will cause a loss of purchasing power for those dependent upon compensation made by BSI for services performed, at a rate equal to the rate of inflation over time. This potential of loss of purchasing power over time, shall be disclosed to any and all employees or potential employees of BSI. All employees of BSI must accept these Policies as a condition of employment. At such time as the loss of purchasing power reaches 10% loss, or the purchasing power of the compensation package drops to 90% of it’s established level, the Maximum Compensation Limit may be raised by an amount no greater than 10% of the current year’s level.
Blue Sky Institute 