Better Business Bureau Report for
St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium

Better Business Bureau Report issued December 2008
Better Business Bureau Report expires December 2010


Does not meet one or more standards
This charity does not meet one or more of the 20 standards for Charity Accountability. Find out more...


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Charity Contact Information

Name: St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium
Address: Salus Center
3545 Lafayette, Suite 300
  St. Louis, MO 63104
Phone: (314) 977-8253
Web Address: www.asthma-stlouis.org
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Better Business Bureau Comments

Year, State Incorporated: 2004, Missouri
Affiliates: None
Stated Purpose: exists to to close the gap between people affected by asthma and the knowledge and services that will help them. SLRAC seeks to accomplish its mission through: • identifing gaps in education and services and supporting efforts to close them • advocating for improved and more responsive health care for those with asthma • assuring that high-quality information and resources are available to those with asthma • reduce barriers to care in health systems and the community • identifying and promoting and implementing “best practices” for asthma management

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Evaluation Conclusions

               

St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium (STLRAC) does not meet the following 4 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Standard 6: Board Policy on Effectiveness - Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

The organization's board of directors does not have an official policy that the organization's performance and effectiveness will be assessed at least once every two years.

Standard 14: Budget - Have a board-approved annual budget for its current fiscal year, outlining projected expenses for major program activities, fund raising, and administration.

The budget provided by the organization does not clearly identify the projected amounts to be spent on program, fund raising, and administrative activities.

Standard 16: Annual Report - Have an annual report available to all, on request, that includes: (a) the organization's mission statement, (b) a summary of the past year's program service accomplishments, (c) a roster of the officers and members of the board of directors, (d) financial information that includes (i) total income in the past fiscal year, (ii) expenses in the same program, fund raising and administrative categories as in the financial statements, and (iii) ending net assets.

The organization's annual report does not include a board roster, summary of income and expenses and a fund balance. 

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 organization does not have an online privacy policy. 

In addition, the St. Louis Better Business Bureau requested but did not receive complete information on the organization’s effectiveness measures and is unable to verify the organization's compliance with the following Standard for Charity Accountability: 7.
St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium (STLRAC) meets the remaining 15 Standards for Charity Accountability.
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Programs

               

St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium (SLRAC) is a community-based coalition dedicated to establishing a regional epidemiological approach to improving the quality of life for people living with asthma and to reducing the burden of asthma in the St. Louis area. SLRAC reaches beyond traditional boundaries of asthma care in St. Louis to examine issues from a broader perspective. Volunteers work together to provide public education, community outreach, and professional development through such activities as free seminars, asthma screenings, educational material in multiple languages, media awareness campaigns, an informational “hotline,” and database of social and health care resources. In addition to volunteer efforts, SLRAC contracts with individuals and other research and community organizations to work on initiatives developed and funded through a Controlling Asthma in St. Louis (CASL) grant awarded to the consortium by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These asthma interventions focus on enhancing health care provider education and patient-provider communication, on providing asthma training of pharmacy staff and working to ensure pharmacies are committed to helping patients effectively use medications to better manage their asthma, on partnering with school to reduce morbidity in children due to asthma through education for school nurses, teachers, and children and the placement of consulting physicians in school districts to provide consultation and standing orders so school nurses can follow “best practices” responses to asthma treatment needs, and to community outreach interventions to reach asthmatics in some of the lowest income areas.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007, STLRAC's program expenses were:

  
Controlling Asthma in St. Louis 985,636
Total Program Expenses: $985,636
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Governance

               

Chief Executive : Susan J. Schau, Executive Director
Compensation*:
 $67,068

Chair of the Board: William Kincaid, MD, MPH
Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation: St. Louis University School of Public Health

Board Size: 15

Paid Staff Size: 1

*Compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances.
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Fund Raising

               

Method(s) Used:

direct mail, grant proposals, internet, membership
Fund raising costs were 1% of related contributions. (Related contributions, which totaled $969,177, are donations received as a result of fund raising activities.)
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Tax Status

               

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.
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Financial

               

The following information is based on STLRAC's audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007.

Source of Funds  
CDC Grant 943,082
Contributions - General 21,045
In Kind Donations 5,050
Investment Earnings 1,881
Miscellaneous 804
Total Income $971,862


chart



Uses of Funds as a % of Total Expenses

Programs: 96%  Fund Raising: 1%  Administrative: 3% 

Total income   $971,862
  Program expenses $985,636
  Fund raising expenses 9,577
  Administrative expenses 32,062
 
Total expenses   $1,027,275
Expenses in Excess of Income   (55,413)
Beginning net assets   78,563
Ending net assets   23,150
Total liabilities   150,957
Total assets   $174,107


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