Accountability

AUTISM AFTER 18 is committed to operating to the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and ethics. We seek to earn your trust by sharing information on how we operate using donated dollars to achieve our mission. The following details reflect our commitment to donors, volunteers, and the people we serve.

Internal and External Oversight

The Directors who serve and oversee AUTISM AFTER 18 help to develop and advance the interests of our donors in ways that go beyond just raising money. Good governance is more than just supporting the organization – it also means representing the community’s interests in what we do. Our Board of Directors has three fundamental legal obligations, or fiduciary duties, which apply to everything we do.

Duty of Care: The amount of care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise in a like position and under similar circumstances. This describes the criteria our Directors must give to making decisions on behalf of AUTISM AFTER 18.

Duty of Loyalty: Keeping the interests of AUTISM AFTER 18 in mind at all times when making decisions on behalf of the organization.

Duty of Obedience: Requires board members to be faithful to our mission; consistent with the mission statement, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and tax-exempt documentation.

Working in partnership with the professional staff, the Directors also cooperate with key legal bodies and various independent organizations that evaluate charities on several factors, not the least of which is an organization’s degree of accountability and transparency.

Organizational & Financial Information

Legally Incorporated: The BYLAWS provide details on how our organization is structured and managed.

Tax Exempt: We are recognized by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as tax-exempt organization. The IRS DETERMINATION LETTER confirms this information.

Volunteer Governance: Our BOARD of DIRECTORS provides internal oversight to the organization.

Our CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST POLICY and annual disclosure practice ensures ethical behavior among our board of directors, staff and volunteers.

Our most recent FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (coming soon) provide details on our use of donor funds and assets.

IRS Verified: Our IRS FORM 990 confirms the annual tax filing information we are required to maintain the tax-exempt designation.

Stewardship Publicly Reported: Our ANNUAL REPORT (coming soon) on activities for each year provides details on our accomplishments and the impact we make with your support.

Privacy Respected: AUTISM AFTER 18 subscribes to the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) DONOR BILL OF RIGHTS, to honor the privacy of our donors. We do not sell, share, or trade donors’ personal information to any other entity. Donors are recognized in the organization’s annual report to the community. Donors wishing to remain anonymous should notify us of this at the time a gift is made. Our DONOR PRIVACY POLICY is available for more details.