Financial information for the Bush Foundation is reported each year through audited financial statements and tax returns. We share three years of audited financial statements on our website. Our year-end audited financial statements are available each July for the previous calendar year. Our most recent Form 990-PF and Form 990-T are available in November.
Our long-term investment objective is to grow the assets Archie left to the community to ensure we can have significant impact in perpetuity. To do this, our goal is to earn returns that are at least equal to the IRS minimum payout of 5% plus inflation.
Our investment efforts are guided by an Investment Committee comprised of board members and outside experts, Foundation staff, and an outside investment advisory firm. The Investment Committee meets at least quarterly with a focus on asset allocation, risk management, performance review and investment manager selection. The committee reviews its written investment policy each year and recommends changes to the board. The committee provides quarterly risk and performance reports to the board.
We also care a lot about the impact our investments have in this region and on the world. We have two intentional objectives we consider as part of our commitment to investing for impact: advancing equity in capital markets, and supporting business and community development in our region.
Impact investing
After our grantmaking, one of the most significant ways we are having impact in the world is through the investment of the dollars entrusted to us by Archie and Edyth Bush, which we refer to as our endowment assets.
We have a conflict of interest / code of conduct policy (PDF) that applies to our board, staff, key partners and vendors in the communities we serve.
This policy is used with all contracts and grant approvals, and we collect annual statements from staff and board identifying relationships that could potentially impair the independence of our decision making. We work diligently to manage such conflicts carefully with strong board oversight.
We are committed to lawful and ethical behavior in all of our activities and require that our board of directors, non-board member committee members, employees and consultants conduct themselves in a manner that complies with all applicable laws and Foundation policies.
To support this commitment, we have a whistleblower policy that is shared with the board annually, is included in our employee handbook and is monitored by the Finance and Audit Committee of the board of directors. The policy provides a communication process for any involved party who wishes to raise concerns about wrongful acts at the Foundation. Wrongful acts encompass conduct that is fraudulent, dishonest or illegal, or which violates the Foundation’s Articles and Bylaws, Conflicts of Interest/Code of Conduct Policy, Investment Policy or any other Foundation policy.
We use market benchmarking to help set board and staff compensation. The board reviews and approves board compensation approximately every three years. The Executive Committee of the board regularly reviews the approach to staff compensation and the board formally approves the compensation of Foundation officers every year. Both board and staff have regular performance reviews to ensure they are doing well in their roles.
We provide an annual allowance for our board members and board committee members to recommend a grant to nonprofit organizations in our region that align with our mission. These grants are given anonymously through a donor advised fund at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. The annual allowance for these grants ranges from $5,000-$20,000, depending on a variety of factors related to each member’s role and responsibilities. We don’t have an open application or solicitation process for these recommendations; our board members make these decisions independently.