spirituality and business

Migs Amper, the brother of the editor of OK! magazine, sent me an email message after my article, How to Live Forever, came out in this month's issue of High Life. He asked for a copy of the sidebar on how to set-up a foundation.

This was a difficult assignment because I believe that evanescence is a part of life- that it is, in fact, part of what makes life beautiful. A line from a poem that struck me in high school English class is sic transit gloria mundi. "This too shall pass" is a motto from Vicky Herrera which has often helped me. In any case, the result of my research was an article on the different ways through which private individuals and organizations can do good.

Migs, here is the draft of the sidebar, Remember Me; you may get the April 2007 issue of the magazine from BusinessWorld.

A foundation is an NGO established to address a deep social need and may be any of the following types: 1. corporate; 2. family; 3. memorial; 4. independent; 5. fundraising; or 6. social development.

The Association of Foundations, the country’s first heterogeneous federation of foundations in the Philippines, produced a manual for starting foundations, Building Foundations (2003).

Founders convene themselves or selected individuals into a Board of Trustees, who will set the policies of the organization. The trustees elect among themselves the officers: the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and auditor.

An executive director (ED) or his/ her equivalent, appointed by the Board, oversees day-to-day activities. The ED is assisted by an administrative staff, which is usually comprised of an administrative officer, cashier, bookkeeper and messenger, and project-based staff.

To give it focus, a foundation formulates a vision, a mission, and goals. A vision expresses how the world will be different because of the foundation’s work. A mission provides direction and communicates the foundation’s identity and purpose. Goals or objectives are measurable targets which plans and activities seek to achieve.

The Gerry Roxas Foundation, for example, envisions “Leaders of Change.” Its mission statement is: “GRF, in partnership with community leaders, initiates and sustains positive change in communities through strategies that build capacities in leadership and support innovative approaches to development.”

A foundation may raise funds through grants, gifts and earned income. To learn more about successful methods of fund raising, get Mayan G. Quebral’s The Fund Raiser’s Guide to Fund Raising (Venture for Fund Raising, 2002).

Oman Q. Jiao, ED of AF, enumerates the steps for securing permits and certifications. He says, “First, look for the appropriate name- you can do this through the Securities and Exchange Commission website. Set-up a capital fund in the bank account of the organization: P1 million if you want to use the word “Foundation” in your name and, if not, P100,000 is enough. Then, go to SEC to file the articles of incorporation and by-laws.”

Every year, the SEC requires registered foundations to submit a General Information Sheet, an Audited Financial Statement, and a Statement of Funds Application.

A foundation also needs to secure a business permit from the local government and register with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Donations to special NGOs called donee institutions are tax-deductable and exempt from the donor’s tax, as provided by the National Internal Revenue Code. To see if your foundation can qualify as a donee institution, visit the website of the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) at www.pcnc.com.ph.