The MASSB Minute

In case you missed it….we would like to congratulate this year's winners of the Sandy Spring Innovative Program Awards! Baltimore County knocked it out of the park with their Sexual Abuse Treatment Program, winning first place and $1,000. Second place was just too hard to determine, as we had two excellent submissions by Kent (ALICE Families) and Calvert (Strategic Partnering) Counties. We opted for a tie, with each county winning $500. These projects are easy to replicate, and bring such value to our community! Check them out at www.massbfoundation.org under Board Resources.

We would again like to thank Sandy Spring Bank for their sponsorship and encourage each of you to be generating ideas and projects for the 2022 Conference. Additionally, we know how hard all of you are working, and we encourage you to nominate your Board or your outstanding board members for Board and Board Member of the Year. It's not too soon to start thinking about it!

All the Best,
Chris

It's exciting to receive donations that your board can use to help people in need. Keep careful records so that you remember to thank your donors and use the funds as intended. Funds received as a result of your fundraiser or grant request for "Project X", for instance, should only be used to support "Project X". The IRS also requires that revenue generated from fundraisers (and associated expenses) be tracked separately. Check out this example.

Categorize your revenue as it comes in and year-end reporting will be a breeze!

Melanee Derenzy, Advisory Board Chair

"I'm most proud of our board member involvement. In the past year or so, we've experienced quite a bit of turnover and complete change to our executive team. Each member is involved, and we're all learning a lot together. I'm a new Chair, and one of my goals is to have everyone understand how our process works. We're working on a handbook that outlines everything from who we are to what our application process consists of. I also would love for each volunteer member to have an integral role that fulfills their need to support the organization, and disperses work so that 2-3 people aren't handling everything."

Our counties provide ethics training every year which is a good and necessary requirement of government.

But let's talk about ethics as it relates to MASSBF. In one word…. ethics are EVERYTHING!!! Ethics are defined as "moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity". Our reputation to DSS, our County Commissioners, our donors…. and not to mention IRS…. is built on our ethical behavior every single day. Take seriously the financial checks and balances we have in place. Refer to Foundation guidance on allowable expenses, and If you have questions…. please ask!

Let's be the organization that our supporters can give to with full confidence that their hard earned money will be used wisely. Make the right decision every time….our ability to help people depends on it.

"Warming the hearts and hands of children" — For 22 years, Allegany County has collected new coats, jackets, sweatshirts, gloves, hats and scarves during the month of October for local school children. In 2021, 437 new coats were distributed!! Check out the flyer for this wonderful program here.

April 22, 12pm — Community Meeting & 1st Qtr Financial Review
What topics would you like to see on the agenda? Let us know! trustee@massbfoundation.org