Accountability & Transparency
COCO lives by our mission. We hold a public trust to enhance quality of life. We articulate the needs of those we serve and explain our programs, costs, and benefits. We share information about our governance, finances, and operations transparently. We are open, inclusive, and responsible to those we serve, our supporters, and society.
Mission Fulfillment
Delivering on our promises
Adapting to meet evolving needs
Leadership on Behalf of the Public Interest
Enhancing community and societal well-being
Promoting inclusiveness and diversity
Educating the public and advocating for relevant causes
Stewardship
Maintaining effective governance and resource management
Recognizing volunteers and compensating staff appropriately
Avoiding conflicts of interest
Quality
Striving for excellence
Continuously evaluating outcomes
Financials & Reports
Statements & Policies
Coalitions and Collaboratives (COCO) and our affiliates have a policy and procedure of non-discrimination with regard to race, color, religion, national origin, physical and mental disability, military status, age, gender, sexual orientation and gender variance, applicable to COCO paid and volunteer staff; applicable to membership in COCO governing board and affiliated boards; and applicable to all persons served by COCO. COCO will work diligently to address any issues of discrimination.
Please contact Jonathan Bruno if you believe you or someone else has been discriminated against by COCO or any of our affiliates.
Statement and Policy regarding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
Adopted by the COCO Board of Directors November 2, 2021
The Board of Directors of Coalitions and Collaboratives (COCO) has adopted the attached nondiscrimination policy. The Board recognizes that a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion extends beyond this policy, and must be reflected in our commitment to foster an environment that embraces our differences and gives all an opportunity to thrive.
The Board further adopts this statement and policy:
Diversity: We appreciate and leverage our differences, and we involve and reflect the communities we serve.
Equity: We align our policies, practices, and resources so that people of all races, cultures, and socioeconomic statuses have genuine opportunities to thrive.
Inclusion: We create an environment in which everyone feels valued and respected.
Justice: We practice justice in our work and actions and feel that all people are entitled to equal protection of their environment and that all people should be empowered to create better environmental outcomes for their communities.
Statement Regarding COCO Workplaces and Staff:
Our human capital is the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation and company’s achievement as well.
We embrace and encourage our employees’ differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique.
COCO also understands that statements and policies must be translated into action. Diversity initiatives are applicable—but not limited—to our practices and policies on recruitment and selection; compensation and benefits; professional development and training; promotions; layoffs; terminations; and the ongoing development of a work environment built on the premise of gender and diversity equity that encourages and enforces:
- Respectfulcommunicationandcooperationbetweenallemployees.
- Team work and employee participation, permitting the representation of all groups and employee perspectives.
- Work/lifebalance through flexible work schedules to accommodate employees’ varying needs.
All employees of COCO have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect at all times. All employees are expected to exhibit conduct that reflects inclusion during work, at work functions on or off the work site, and at all other company-sponsored and participative events.
Any employee found to have exhibited any inappropriate conduct or behavior against others may be subject to disciplinary action.
Employees who believe they have been subjected to any kind of discrimination that conflicts with the company’s non-discrimination policy or diversity statement should seek assistance from a supervisor or Board of Directors representative.
Statement Regarding External Relationships and Partners
COCO understands that in order to foster collaborative conservation initiatives, we must commit to inclusive practices within our community, stakeholders, and affiliates. Groups of people working together, diverse partners and communities, have the best opportunity to address complex problems. All people must have access to a healthy and sustainable environment, to fulfil basic needs. Committing to the values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice is critical to achieve our vision of “A future where ecosystems are resilient and communities thrive together.”
We commit to engaging our community, stakeholders, and affiliates an inclusive, and just community. COCO seeks to not only acknowledge differences, but to mindfully support them by respectfully embracing all people and points of view. Further, we strive to identify and dismantle structural inequalities in order to provide a robust mixture of stakeholders who can drive positive change, mitigate challenges, and build resiliency for society.
Non-discrimination Policy
COCO has a policy and procedure of non-discrimination with regard to race, color, religion or religious practices, national origin, physical or mental disability, military status, age, gender, family status (including pregnancy), sexual orientation or gender variance. This policy is applicable to COCO’s paid and volunteer staff; applicable to membership in COCO’s governing board and affiliated boards; and applicable to all persons served by COCO.
Incidents or circumstances of discrimination, harassment, or sexual harassment will not be condoned, nor tolerated; violation of this policy is grounds for disciplinary action as outlined in section 3, Disciplinary Action, of this document.
Definitions for this section include:
Discrimination: Discrimination with respect to any condition of employment, or against any applicant for employment, may be a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and/or State statues.
Discrimination concerns the unfair or unequal treatment of a person or group (either intentional or unintentional) based on race, color, age, national origin, religion, sex, sexual preference, or disability.
Harassment: Harassment is conduct that involves a pervasive atmosphere of severe or unwelcome working conditions that have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct directed at an individual because of that individual’s gender or gender expression constitute sexual harassment when:
- Submission to such conduct is either explicitly of implicitly a term of an individual’s employment, or
- Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or
Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
The principal basis for making a major charitable gift should be a desire on the part of the donor to support the work of COCO in fulfilling its mission; however, COCO reserves the right to refuse any gift that is not in its best interest in fulfilling its mission. No charitable gift, trust agreement, or contract shall be urged upon a donor or prospective donor to benefit the organization at the expense of the donor’s intent and best considerations. Congress has provided tax incentives for charitable giving, and the emphasis in this policy on philanthropic motivation in no way minimizes the necessity and appropriateness of a full and accurate explanation for the donor of those incentives and their implications. COCO will, to the best of its ability, inform donors about options, and benefits, but donors should also consult outside professionals, including lawyers, accountants, or financial planners, to fully understand the implications of their donations.
Guidelines
These guidelines are provided to ensure that assets given to COCO for its long-term sustainability are:
- accepted, managed, and invested to provide maximum benefit to COCO,
- handled pursuant to the donor’s intent and wishes, and,
- in the case of endowment, managed to minimize the risk to the underlying corpus.
COCO may accept cash donations and marketable securities at any time, for the purposes of establishing an endowment as outlined below, or for its direct use under its charitable purposes. These gifts may be accepted by the Executive Director. The Executive Director may also accept gifts of personal property with a value less than $50,000, when such property is intended for COCO’s direct use in fulfilling its charitable purposes (for example, gifts of vehicles or equipment used in COCO’s work).
- Gifts of other assets, such as real estate, life insurance policies, closely held stocks, or tangible goods, such as art, jewelry, or personal property not included in the previous paragraph, may be accepted as approved by the Board of Directors, and may be directly invested or sold to provide cash for investment. In the case of gifts that require Board acceptance, COCO will work to promptly respond to donors; however, COCO will take the time needed to do appropriate due diligence in accepting such gifts, which may include reviewing the gift with technical consultants including but not limited to realtors, surveyors, appraisers, attorneys, accountants, and other specialists who would be critical for COCO to adequately evaluate material information pertinent for COCO’s Board in making a decision to accept such gifts.
- All gifts shall be valued based on Internal Revenue Service regulations in place at the time the gift is accepted. All representations made in promotional, fundraising, and other public information materials are accurate and not misleading with respect to the organization’s accomplishments, activities, and intended use of funds. All funds are spent for the purpose(s) identified in the solicitation or where not specifically solicited, in accordance with the state wishes of the donor. All donor gifts are acknowledged in writing, in compliance with IRS rules, which may require a third-part appraisal for certain donations of real or personal property. Quid pro quo donation values will be adjusted according to the value of the service or product the donor receives.
- Major Gift/Endowment Agreement A written document referred to as a “major gift/endowment agreement” will be prepared in support of the gift. The agreement may be provided in the form of a letter from the donor, or may be drafted by staff based on pertinent language from a legal document such as a will or a trust. Wording of the agreement should specifically address the following items:
- Named Funds: COCO reserves the right to only approve individually named funds for 2 donations of at least $25,000. The endowment agreement shall specify the name of the fund as the donor wishes it to be recorded. Funds can be named in such a way as to not give away the identity of the donor.
- General Purpose Funds: Donors may donate smaller funds for COCO to add to COCO’s Board-established general endowment, or to other endowment funds pursuant to the endowment agreement for such funds.
- The specific purpose[s] for which the gift or endowment distributions are to be used, such as for a specific program or project, or for COCO’s general support.
- The agreement shall define the period of restriction, either permanent or temporary for a stated period of years, and during the restricted period, terms such as how the principal may or may not be used (for example, for general operations or capital expenditures) unless as specified in the next item.
- In the case of restricted endowments, the agreement shall also state that if, during the restricted period, severe economic conditions result in a decrease in the endowment principal below the original donation, COCO may reduce the remaining principal by no more than 5% per year, upon a vote of the Board, in order to sustain the program, project or general operations for which the fund was established.
- If, in the opinion of the Board, fundamental circumstances change so radically that the purpose for which the endowment was originally established becomes illegal, impractical or no longer able to be carried out to meet the needs of COCO, the Board may designate an alternative use for the gift or endowment, but in so doing the Board shall give utmost consideration to the donor’s special interests and wishes as evidenced in the original agreement. Thus, the agreement should spell out alternate uses that the donor considers acceptable, up to and including dispersing the gift or principal to an alternate 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
- If, subsequent to the original gift, any person or entity, including COCO, is allowed to make additions to a named endowment fund, the agreement should state that such additions must be made subject to the provisions of the original endowment agreement, or should specify terms that apply to said additional funds.
- Funds distributed from endowments in one year may be retained and expended for the purposes of the endowment in subsequent years, or may be reinvested at the discretion of the Board, as a permanent addition to the principal of the endowment.
- Gifts and endowment funds may be commingled with other funds for the purpose of maximizing earnings on investments or reducing administrative burden.
- Endowment distributions may include income, defined as dividends, interest, and other income, and net appreciation of endowment principal, both realized and unrealized.
- Donor confidentiality will be maintained according to the wishes of the donor, within the context of federal or state laws requiring reporting of donations.
Coalitions and Collaboratives (COCO) is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the COCO website, and for donations, and governs data collection and usage. By using related websites, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.
COLLECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
If you sign-up with us, contact us or donate to us, COCO will collect personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number when collecting donations on behalf of and provides an anonymous donation option.
Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others. Note: COCO does not read any of your private online communications.
COCO encourages you to review the privacy statements of websites you choose to link to from COCO so that you can understand how those websites collect, use and share your information. COCO is not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on websites outside of the COCO and family of websites.
USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
COCO collects and uses your personal information to operate the web site and deliver the services you have requested, such as signing up on the Volunteer web page, e-newsletter sign-up, job & intern application, and contacting us through our forms. COCO may also contact you via surveys to research your satisfaction with volunteer experiences you have had with COCO and COCO affiliates.
COCO does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties. COCO does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.
COCO keeps track of the websites and pages our customers visit within COCO, in order to determine what COCO services are the most popular. COCO website will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of COCO; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of COCO, or the public.
USE OF COOKIES
The COCO website uses “cookies” to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize COCO pages, or register with COCO site or services, a cookie helps COCO to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same COCO website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the COCO features that you customized.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the COCO services or websites you visit.
SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
COCO secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. COCO secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
CHANGES TO THIS STATEMENT
COCO will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect company and customer feedback. COCO encourages you to periodically review this Statement to be informed of how COCO is protecting your information.
CONTACT INFORMATION
COCO welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that COCO has not adhered to this Statement, please contact COCO. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.
DONOR PRIVACY POLICY
This section of our Privacy Policy relates specifically to donors.
This Donor Privacy Policy applies to the collection of information, including information collected on our website. By submitting your information to us or any of our staff, you consent to the terms and conditions of the policy and to our processing personal information for the purposes stated below.
THIRD PARTY LINKS
The site may contain links to third party sites on the internet (“Third Party Sites”). Your use of all third party sites is at your own risk, and it is your sole responsibility to evaluate the content and usefulness of the information obtained from third-party sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. If you are concerned about the privacy policy of a certain third party, you may contact them directly or visit their individual website to learn more about their privacy policies.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
“Personal Information” is information that identifies you personally, such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, mailing address, or home address. We collect and store personal information that you share with us. Below are examples of ways in which we may collect your information:
- When you request information via one of the email addresses identified on our website, our contact forms, or otherwise contact us in person, by phone, or email, with an inquiry. We may then collect information such as your name, address, email, or telephone number to respond to that inquiry.
- We may collect your name, email address, telephone number, and other contact information if you register for and/or attend an event.
- We may collect information such as your name, email address, telephone number, and payment information when you make a contribution, either on our website, over the phone, by mailing in a check, or any other manner in which you might make a contribution.
- Information you provide through COCO’s online grant or donation administration portal.
The above list provides a sample of personal information that may be collected by COCO. From time to time, we may collect personal information from you in ways not described above.
COCO restricts access to personal information to those employees who need to know that personal information to provide our services to you.
USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
COCO respects and values the trust you place in us when you give us your personal information and is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of our donors’ personal information.
- We will not trade, share, or sell a donor’s personal information, collected on the website or through any business activities, with anyone else.
- We will only share donor mailings on behalf of other organizations once the donor has given COCO specific permission to do so.
- Donors may opt in to share testimonials with COCO, which may be featured on COCO’s website, social media sites, or other publications.
- Donor names may be featured in recognition lists with other donors at their associated giving level in COCO publications such as the website, social media sites or annual report.
- We will collect payment information, billing address, and other information necessary to process a donation or event registration.
- We will use your information to comply with the law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to conform to the requirements of the law or comply with legal process served on us, protect and defend our rights, or act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of others.
- We will use your personal information to protect against potential fraud. We may verify with third parties the information collected in the course of processing a gift, event registration or other donation. If you use a credit card, we may use card authorization and fraud screening services to verify that your card information and address match the information that you supplied to us, and that the card being used has not been reported lost or stolen.
Except as described in this Donor Privacy Policy or at the time we request the information, we do not otherwise disclose your personal information to any third parties. Further, COCO will not sell or trade your personally identifiable information to any third parties.
COCO SITE USAGE INFORMATION
Information (e.g., log files, cookies, Internet tags, web beacons, etc.) we collect from you through your use of the site will be used to (a) monitor the operation, technical functions and quality of the site, (b) compile general statistics regarding use of the site, and (c) analyze demographic information about the site’s users. We may also use such information for research or improvements to the site and the services we offer you. This data is also used by COCO to deliver customized content and advertising to you when your use of the internet indicates that you are interested in a particular subject area.
SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We do not disclose any personal information about our donors, or former donors, to anyone except as permitted or required by law.
SECURITY OF INFORMATION
COCO is committed to protecting the security of your personal information transmitted to and from this website and will take reasonable security precautions to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. However, we cannot guarantee the security of our database, nor can we guarantee that information you supply won’t be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the internet.
CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about COCO Privacy Policy and COCO privacy and security practices, you can contact COCO.