Standard 11: Financial Statements - Make available to all, on request, complete annual financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. When total annual gross income exceeds $250,000, these statements should be audited in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. For charities whose annual gross income is less than $250,000, a review by a certified public accountant is sufficient to meet this standard. For charities whose annual gross income is less than $100,000, an internally produced, complete financial statement is sufficient to meet this standard.
Despite gross revenues of $150,485 for the year ended December 31, 2009, the charity did not obtain a review of its financial statements by an independent certified public accountant (CPA).
Standard 13: Accuracy of Expenses in Financial Statements - Accurately report the charity's expenses, including any joint cost allocations, in its financial statements. For example, audited or unaudited statements which inaccurately claim zero fund raising expenses or otherwise understate the amount a charity spends on fund raising, and/or overstate the amount it spends on programs will not meet this standard.
Despite evidence of fundraising efforts, the charity reported zero fundraising expenses in its IRS Form 990 for the year ended December 31, 2009.
In addition, according to the charity's IRS Form 990, Elementz reported "depreciation, depletion, and amortization" as its sole administrative expenses. However, in BBB's opinion, the charity may have additional expenses that should be allocated to the category of administration, such as salaries, occupancy, telephone, and supplies.
Allocating total expenses to all three categories, programs, fundraising, and administration, will change the ratio of total expenses spent on programs and related contributions spent on fundraising expenses. Therefore, BBB is unable to verify Standards 8 and 9.
Standard 18: Privacy for Written Appeals & Internet Privacy - Address privacy concerns of donors by (a) providing in written appeals, at least annually, a means (e.g., such as a check off box) for both new and continuing donors to inform the charity if they do not want their name and address shared outside the organization, (b) providing a clear, prominent and easily accessible privacy policy on any of its websites that tells visitors (i) what information, if any, is being collected about them by the charity and how this information will be used, (ii) how to contact the charity to review personal information collected and request corrections, (iii) how to inform the charity (e.g., a check off box) that the visitor does not wish his/her personal information to be shared outside the organization, and (iv) what security measures the charity has in place to protect personal information.
The charity's website does not provide access to a privacy policy.