What makes the alliance center a sustainable site

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Join us for the next all-Coalition convening about the workforce of tomorrow! Working Capital Ratio. Program Expense Growth. Liabilities to Assets. Program Expense. Program Expense Ratio Administrative Expenses Fundraising Expenses Liabilities to Assets Ratio Working Capital Ratio 6. Program Expense Growth Governance Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form that the organization has these governance practices in place.

More The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters. Our analysts check the Form to determine if the independent Board members are a voting majority and also at least five in number.

Less No Material Diversion of Assets More A diversion of assets — any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft — can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity.

This metric will be assigned to one of the following categories: Full Credit: There has been no diversion of assets within the last two years. Partial Credit: There has been a diversion of assets within the last two years and the charity has used Schedule O on the Form to explain: the nature of the diversion, the amount of money or property involved and the corrective action taken to address the matter.

In this situation, we deduct 7 points from the charity's Accountability and Transparency score. No Credit: There has been a diversion of assets within the last two years and the charity's explanation on Schedule O is either non-existent or not sufficient. In this case, we deduct 15 points from the charity's Accountability and Transparency score.

More Audited financial statements provide important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Partial Credit: The charity's audited financials were prepared by an independent accountant, but it did not have an audit oversight committee. In this case, we deduct 7 points from the charity's Accountability and Transparency score. No Credit: The charity did not have its audited financials prepared by an independent accountant.

More Making loans to related parties such as key officers, staff, or Board members, is not standard practice in the sector as it may divert the charity's funds away from its charitable mission and can lead to real and perceived conflict-of-interest problems.

This practice is discouraged by sector trade groups which point to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act when they call for charities to refrain from making loans to directors and executives.

And the IRS is concerned enough with the practice that it requires charities to disclose on their Form any loans to or from current and former officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and other "disqualified persons. Furthermore, it is problematic because it is an indicator that the organization is not financially secure. Less Documents Board Meeting Minutes More An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.

Charities are not required to make their Board meeting minutes available to the public. As such, we are not able to review and critique their minutes. For this performance metric, we are checking to see if the charity reports on its Form that it does keep those minutes. In the future, we will also track and rate whether or not a charity keeps minutes for its committee meetings. Less Distributes to Board Before Filing More Providing copies of the Form to the governing body in advance of filing is considered a best practice, as it allows for thorough review by the individuals charged with overseeing the organization.

The Form asks the charity to disclose whether or not it has followed this best practice. If the charity has not distributed its Form to the board before filing, then we deduct 4 points from its Accountability and Transparency score. Less Compensates Board More The IRS requires that any compensation paid to members of the charity's governing body be listed on the Form Furthermore, all members of the governing body need to be listed whether or not they are compensated.

It is not unusual for some members of the board to have compensation listed. The executive director of the organization frequently has a seat on the board, for instance, and is compensated for being a full time staff member.

However, it is rare for a charity to compensate individuals only for serving on its Board of Directors. Although this sort of board compensation is not illegal, it is not considered a best practice.

Policies Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form , or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization has these policies in place. More Such a policy protects the organization, and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer or director of the organization.

Charities are not required to share their conflict of interest policies with the public. Although we can not evaluate the substance of its policy, we can tell you if the charity has one in place based on the information it reports on its Form If the charity does not have a Conflict of Interest policy, then we deduct 4 points from its Accountability and Transparency score.

Other than housing the future Mayor and Governor, the building's public presence began in earnest in when the non-profit The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado purchased the building with the intention of creating a multi-tenant nonprofit center focused on community sustainability. The idea was to support Colorado's sustainability community through high quality and affordable office space and services as well as to serve as an educational outreach center promoting sustainability and the reuse of historic buildings.

Through it all, the building's historic brick and Douglas fir wood beam construction has been retained. The Center's recent renovation restored many of these historic features to their former glory and unveiled elements that had been hidden behind dropped ceilings and walls for many years.

The Center has been fortunate to count the City of Denver as an important partner and supporter through the years. The Alliance has been an active supporter of Denver's Office of Sustainability formerly Greenprint Denver , long-standing member of its Advisory Council, and the grateful recipient of many City awards, including the Mayor's Design Award. For the Center's most recent transformation project, the Alliance tapped into the collective wisdom of the Denver's Office of Sustainability and its wider network in determining the eventual design goals and project vision.

The Better Buildings Challenge afforded a valuable opportunity to utilize the visibility of The Alliance Center to showcase the City of Denver's sustainability resources and initiatives; it is the collective plan and intention that the project will showcase what is possible to other commercial building owners and also connect them to the resources to achieve high performance.

The Alliance Center's aging mechanical systems afforded an opportunity to upgrade a wide variety of building amenities and systems. Specific improvements made during the renovation project include:. Learn more about our Living Laboratory program. We offset our energy consumption. Carbon Offsets- The Alliance Center offsets what it does consume and has been carbon neutral since Colorado on average has a recycling rate of 17 percent- far below the national average of 35 percent.

The Alliance Center is continuously working to implement and discover ways to reduce our waste production with a goal of becoming zero waste, which is defined as a diversion rate of at least 90 percent. We currently divert over 85 percent of our waste! We prioritize more sustainable items when purchasing products.

Sustainable Products — Closed loop and high post-consumer recycled products such as Interface carpeting are a priority. We work with our customers to reduce waste. Contractual Agreements — Office space and event customer legal agreements include both restrictions and incentives to reduce waste. We provide sustainable options to our community. Homefill — Bulk retail store hosts events in our lobby for tenants to purchase sustainable products and bulk in reusable containers.

Better World Company — Host this zero waste company in our lobby; they allow our tenants to fill reusable containers with dish soaps, body wash, shampoo and other materials. Reducing Event Food Waste — Food left over from events is made available to our tenants to prevent it from going to waste.

We encourage the usage of reusables for our tenants and events. Reusables — The Alliance Center provides reusable dishes and utensils for tenants to use for meals at work. We compost and recycle, diverting nearly 88 percent of the total waste generated. Dishware and Utensils — We require reusable or compostable for events as well, as our in-house coffee vendor. Hard to Recycle Station — Our building has a dedicated station to collects unique products from the tenants and broader community that cannot be recycled with our commercial recycler.

This includes e-waste, plastics, pet food bags, water filters and many others. In , the station resulted in a diversion of nearly , individual items from the landfill.

We prevent hard-to-recycle items from going to the trash. Located on the first floor of our building, this community resource is just one of our ongoing efforts to prevent waste from going to the landfill!