IRROB's Funding Policy

IRROB as a Non-Profit Organization: The Irob Relief and Rehabilitation Operations Brotherhood (IRROB), Inc. was incorporated on February 10, 2003 in the District of Columbia by three incorporators, all of whom are native to the Irob region (hereinafter “Irobland” in northern Ethiopia. The organization was established for the sole purpose of, primarily, assisting vulnerable populations in Irob, Ethiopia, as well as in the United States within the context of charitable humanitarian, educational, and social service. The organization is governed by the Corporate Members composed of the three Irob Incorporators, as well as two additional non-Irob people. The Corporate Members appoint by a simple majority vote the Board of Directors, whose maximum number will not exceed fifteen, including Corporate Members who are ex-officio members of the Board. Specific powers are delegated to the Board to execute the operational and functional activities of the organization, except those specific responsibilities and authority reserved or vested to the Corporate Members according to the Bylaws of the Organization.

Mission of IRROB: IRROB is founded based on a dual mission – embracing both domestic and overseas missions or charities. The primary mission of IRROB is to improve and change the destitute living conditions of the people of Irob and other Ethiopians through charitable humanitarian, educational, and social outreach programs coordinated by the Irobs themselves and other non-Irob friends and volunteers here in the United States and in Ethiopia. IRROB strongly believes in empowering the Irob Community to promote self-reliance and sustainability in addressing and solving their problems. In its domestic mission, IRROB’s goals are to (1) coordinate social programs relating to healthcare awareness and family and community relations for the Irob community and others in the Washington metropolitan area and gradually in other parts of the country; (2) to assist newcomers to the United States through orientation and referral to service-providers.

In its overseas mission, IRROB seeks respond to the critical health problems of people in northern Ethiopia (with a special focus on the Irob Wored/administrative district) caused by malnutrition and the lack of clean potable water. These diseases include TB, malaria, and other infectious diseases. We feel it is our human and moral responsibility to help save the lives of children, senior citizens, and other vulnerable people susceptible to disease from inadequate food, poor nutrition, and lack of vaccinations, as well as poor or no access to hospitals, qualified healthcare-givers, and adequately equipped clinics. We are committed to provide the critically and chronically ill people in this area with transportation from their remote rural areas to clinics and/or hospitals in the urban areas. In addition, IRROB is committed to promoting literacy and helping disadvantaged children and youth to have access to basic education. To this end, we will mobilize and motivate people to improve their health and living conditions through the advancement of education and information about how to live a healthy life.

Therefore, IRROB is committed to: (1) seeking immediate medical assistance for the recurrent drought-ridden areas in northern Ethiopia (particularly in the Irob Woreda), where malnutrition and epidemic diseases pose a daily life-threatening risk; (2) responding rapidly to the continuous and pressing health pandemics, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other preventable infectious diseases; (3) raising funds to acquire ambulance(s) and/or mobile clinic(s) with equipped to transport the critically and chronically ill from remote rural areas to the urban hospitals and/or healthcare centers; (4) raising funds to provide qualified physician(s) and nurses to serve in rural clinics, and to sponsor and train paramedics to operate the ambulance(s) acquired by the organization

FUNDING AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES

OVERSEAS CHARITY FUNDING

1.1. BENEFICIARY: The primary beneficiaries of IRROB’s foreign charities are the people of Irob who reside in Irobland. Irobland is the poorest region in Ethiopia and hardest hit by cyclical drought and crop failure. The region (or “wereda” in the native language) is divided in three sub-regions known as Adgadi-Are, Buknaiti-Are, and Hassaballa. The total population in these sub-regions is estimated at over 30,000 spread over 360 square kilometers of rugged mountainous territory with poor road infrastructure and difficult accessibility. Services in the Irob Woreda are to be provided to anyone, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, etc. Based on the availability of resources and permits, IRROB may expand its service to other surrounding regions and beyond.

1.2. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS FOR FUNDING: The geographic location of Irobland or Irob Wereda, where most of the IRROB’s services and funds will be used, is found in the Northeastern Tigray Regional State in Ethiopia and is bordered by Eritrea in the North and the Afar Regional State of Ethiopia in the East and South-East. Small grants will also be given to destitute Irob students in the urban areas, such as Adigrat, Mekele, and Addis Ababa, who need educational assistance to attend high schools, colleges or universities.

1.3. NEED ASSESSMENT: IRROB will depend on domestic and foreign NGOs, the local government, and churches, particularly the Adigrat Catholic Diocese, operating in the immediate affected area as well as the Ethiopian Federal Government for an accurate need assessment of the target region before any consideration for funding in response to particular or general emergency situations and problems.

1.4. PROJECTS ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING BY IRROB

1.4.1. SHORT-TERM EMERGENCY RESPONSES: Whereas drought-caused disaster and other health-related epidemic situations threaten the lives of Irob people, IRROB will respond by raising humanitarian relief aid funds in the United States from the public in general and from Irob and other Ethiopian communities in particular. IRROB will collect medicine and other commodities to ship to Irobland in Ethiopia and will raise funds for shipping and delivery to the target area.

1.4.1.1. FAMINE-RELATED CRISES: In case of health and/or water emergency situations, IRROB will collaborate with the Adigrat Catholic Diocese of Tigray, the Daughters of Charity, the Irob Nationality Rehabilitation and Development Association (INRDA) in Mekelle (Tigray), a new legally founded and recognized nonprofit organization of Irobs, and other governmental or non-governmental relief agencies operating in the region. Such collaboration will help the organization respond quickly and effectively according to the availability of and/or capacity of raising funds here in the United States. Whereas medicines and supplies are needed for the local clinics, IRROB will purchase them in the United States and Ethiopia with available funds and distribute them to the clinics serving the affected populations in the areas regardless of race, creed, color, and national origin, etc.

1.4.1.2. DRINKING WATER: Whereas water crises arise in the Irob Wereda (a normal occurrence in that particular region) and surrounding regions, IRROB will provide funds through small grants to dig wells for clean water. This will mitigate against typhoid and other related diseases as well as provide water for livestock.

1.4.1.3. HEALTH: Whereas the health of the people is threatened in the Irob Woreda and surrounding regions, IRROB will strive to provide transportation, such as an ambulance(s) and/or mobile clinic. To address the affects of chronic malnutrition and the lack of clean water, IRROB will be collecting medicine and medical equipment in the United States for use by local clinics run by community organizations. Infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, etc., are becoming epidemic in the Irob Wereda. IRROB will fund projects that fight the spread of these diseases through educational workshops in local languages languages, disseminate educational materials, and provide preventive and/or life-prolonging medicines.

1.4.2. LONG-TERM SOLUTION-ORIENTED PROGRAMS: IRROB believes that all social and health related crises are mainly caused by the endemic poverty throughout the country. Only sustained development programs can address the poverty of the over 70 million Ethiopians living on the margins. At this time, IRROB does not have the resources or capacity to carry out these kinds of long-term programs. IRROB strongly believe that these kinds of programs should be carried out by the Government of Ethiopia and its partners in the international donor community to create greater self-reliance among the population to break the cycle of dependency on foreign aid.

1.4.2.1.CAPACITY BUILDING AND EMPOWERMENT OF PEOPLE OF IROB

1.4.2.2. POVERTY REDUCTION AND ECONOMIC SELF-RELIANCE OF THE IROB PEOPLE

1.4.2.3. ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN IROBLAND

1.4.2.4. WATER AND SOIL CONSERVATION SUPPORT IN IROBLAND

1.4.2.5. LAND, ANIMAL, AND BEE-FARMING SUPPORT IN IROBLAND

1.4.2.6. TREE-PLANTATION AND FORESTATION SUPPORT IN IROBLAND

1.5. CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES REQUIRED FOR IRROB’S APPROVAL, FUNDING, AND MONITORING OF ITS FOREIGN ACTIVITIES OR CHARITIES:

1.5.0. First and foremost, IRROB will have and maintain full responsibility, accountability, and control over all funds raised from the public in the United States in compliance with the IRC 501(c)(3) exclusively exempt purposes and in compliance with the Internal Revenue Service’s Rev. Rul. 63-252 provisions. IRROB has been created in the U.S. to (a) be eligible as a tax-exempt organization under 501(c)(3) for non-profit purposes, (b) qualify under Section 170(c)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, (c) operate exclusively for one or more purposes stated in Section 170(c)(2)(B) of the Code, and (d) meet the other requirements of Section 170(c)(2) of the Code (with respect to no private inurement, no impermissible political activity, etc.) and in full conformity and compliance with the IRS Ruling 63-252, 1963-2 C.B. 101. Therefore, IRROB shall not be controlled by any foreign charities or organizations to solicit funds in the United States for their activities or charities. IRROB may use such foreign charitable organizations or activities legally and responsibly operating in the immediate geographic location of this organization’s interest in order to effectively implement its nonprofit charitable/humanitarian, educational and developmental purposes. Hence, IRROB follows the hereby-stated criteria and procedures in order to maintain full control and demonstrate bona fide discretion over the donated funds and over how the funds are disbursed by it to foreign projects, in this case in Irobland for intended charitable activities stated under section 1.4 of this document:

1.5.1. BOARD REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED:

The Board must conform and abide with the requirements in Section 170(c)(4) of the Code where it declares: “A domestic organization conducts a variety of charitable activities in a foreign country. Where its purposes can be furthered by granting funds to charitable groups organized in the foreign country, the domestic organization makes such grants for purposes, which it has reviewed and approved. The grants are paid from its general funds and although the organization solicits from the public, no special fund is raised by a solicitation on behalf of particular foreign organizations.” (Rev. Rul. 63-252, 1963-2 C.B. 101). In line with this provision, IRROB’s Board of Directors must and will (a) review and approve any specific project to be carried out in Irob Wereda/Region or elsewhere; (b) maintain full control and discretion over how the funds are disbursed by foreign projects; (c) monitor and oversee the project to be implemented in accordance with IRROB’s own tax-exempt purposes through appropriate field review; and (d) receive periodic accounting of all funds to assure compliance with the IRS provisional rules and laws.

1.5.2. FUNDING, CONTROLING, AND OVERSEEING FUNDS AND FUNDED PROJECTS’ IMPLEMENTATION

To maintain adequate and effective control over all IRROB’s funds dispersed to: 1) foreign charities for the Irob people in Ethiopia; or 2) projects under the control of another (partner(s) non-profit organization(s) in Ethiopia, IRROB adopts the following guidelines for the distribution and monitoring of the organization’s funds:

1.5.2.1. To the fullest extent possible, requests for funding for foreign charities or projects will be channeled through IRROB’s annual budgetary process and will be considered together with all other internally and externally generated requests for funds. The elements of the annual budgetary process must include at a minimum:

1.5.2.1a. An adequate description of the charitable purposes to be served by the foreign charity or project;

1.5.2.1b. A determination by this Board that such purposes are consistent with the charitable purposes of IRROB and worthy of funding;

1.5.2.1c. A detailed budget submitted by the recipient charity, which shows proposed expenditures by sufficient line items for this Board to determine the economic efficiency of the project being funded;

1.5.2.1d. A list of specific charitable goals the recipient charity wants to accomplish with our funds, together with a statement of the standards by which progress toward the goals can be measured;

1.5.2.1e. An identification of the person(s) within the recipient charity who will be responsible for overseeing the funded projects; and

1.5.2.1f. A commitment by the recipient charity and its responsible person(s) to fully, faithfully and timely comply with IRROB’s reporting and monitoring requirements.

1.5.2.2. Funding requests which are not received in time to go through the annual budgetary process of IRROB and which the president determines are worthy of special consideration may be funded only if an executive committee of IRROB’s Board approves the project as meeting the requirements set forth in paragraph 1 above.

1.5.2.3. All approved funding of foreign charities shall be monitored by IRROB’s Board through specific reporting from the responsible person for each recipient charity. Reports must be submitted by each recipient charity at least twice a year. In the case of foreign charities receiving funding from IRROB in excess of $250,000 per year, reports shall be submitted every calendar quarter.

1.5.2.4. The reports submitted by foreign charities (in this case from partner organizations operating on the site of the funded projects) must include financial statements (current within 30 days) reflecting actual charitable expenses compared with the projected charity budget previously submitted. Project milestones shall be briefly evaluated and all significant post-funding developments and problems shall be discussed. The IRROB’s chief financial officer shall receive and evaluate these reports and then refer them to the president with a recommendation for continuing or discontinuing funding.

1.5.2.5. All foreign charity funding requests for Irob Wereda shall be funded with the understanding that IRROB retains full control of all such funds, exercises absolute discretion as to their use, and retains the right to discontinue funding (including the refund of funds already granted but not expended) at any time it determines that the project goals or standards of performance are not being met, the budget is not being adhered to, accountability standards are not being satisfied, or in this organization's sole discretion for any other reason.

1.5.2.6. These guidelines shall be presented to all charities seeking/granted funding for foreign charity projects in the Irob Region from IRROB after the date these guidelines are adopted. As a condition of receiving any future funding, all such charities must attest in writing to their commitment to fully, faithfully and timely comply with these guidelines.

1.5.2.7. These guidelines shall also be publicized as appropriate to IRROB’s United States donors as a means of retaining IRROB’s discretion over the use of funds, which are designated for foreign charities or projects and for preserving the tax deductibility of such donations to the fullest extent allowed by law.

1.5.2.8. Unsolicited designated contributions for foreign charities or projects by U.S. donors shall only be received for previously approved projects unless the president determines that a particular donor-designated foreign charity or project is sufficiently meritorious and compatible with this organization's purposes that the contribution should be treated as a funding request and presented to IRROB’s Board for budgetary consideration in accordance with steps 1 or 2 above. Otherwise, any such unsolicited designated contributions should be returned to the donor.

2.0. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF IRROB IN FUNDRAISING, DISBURSING, EXPENDING, AUDITING, DISCLOSING, AND REPORTING TO THE DONORS FUNDS RECEIVED

2.1. FUNDRAISING: In fundraising or soliciting the public, IRROB believes in and therefore will exercise maximum ethical integrity, accountability and transparency to the public. IRROB will solicit funds truthfully and make full disclosure on the purpose of the funds, the accounting of the funds and a rigorous monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of the funded activities.

2.2. DISBURSING: IRROB has full ethical and legal responsibility and obligation to disburse and use funds raised from donors for the purposes and projects solicited. Equally it has full responsibility and obligation to truthfully inform the donors what percentage went to the intended purposes and projects and what percentage was used for overhead expenses that any normal organization would have. In disbursing and transferring the funds, IRROB will use maximum caution and care that the funds are not mishandled. IRROB will use the safest and securest methods in transferring funds through an internationally recognized banking system.

2.3. EXPENDING: IRROB believes in spending funds raised for non-profit purposes with full ethical responsibility and truthfulness for the projects intended. As it is normal and natural with any organization conducting any form of business to have expenses in raising funds and implementing the projects for which the funds were raised, IRROB and its foreign partners will incur expenses. However, IRROB believes in keeping its operating cost to a minimum and spending the funds for the purposes solicited from the donors to the maximum extent possible. IRROB anticipates its operating cost will not exceed 35%.

2.4. AUDITING: IRROB will have internal and external auditing policies

2.4.1. Policy #1: The Board of IRROB shall appoint internal auditors to periodically monitor and review the fundraising activities and the books and financial management of the organization.

2.4.2. Policy #2: In accordance with generally accepted accounting standards and principles, IRROB will have a yearly audit by an independent certified public accounting firm if the organization was able to raise $50,000 or more during its fiscal year. If IRROB was not able to raise $50,000 during its fiscal year, then the external independent auditing will take place every two years.

2.4.3. Policy #3: All foreign charities or organizations funded by IRROB shall provide to IRROB in a timely manner, a copy of their recently and independently audited financial report justifying the expenditures for the projects intended. IRROB shall require such report in order to comply with the IRS requirement and provision that the funded organization “furnish a periodic accounting to show that the funds were expended for the purposes which were approved by the board of directors,” and that IRROB retained at all times the right to withdraw approval of the grant. (Rev. Rul. 66-79, 1966-1 C.B. 48).

2.5. DISCLOSING AND REPORTING: In an effort to keep its donors more fully informed, IRROB shall make a copy of the audited financial statements providing information about any projects that the donors have supported through IRROB overseas or at home. In other words, IRROB fully recognizes its obligation to comply with all applicable laws and provisions of IRS and it accepts full accountability to handle properly and responsibly all funds received.

Acknowledgement: Part of this document (nos.1.5.2.-1.5.2.8.) has been adopted from "Guidelines for Funding Foreign Charities" with permission granted by Thompson & Thompson: A Professional Corporation. (Copyright 2004).