Financial Transparency

Status: Commitment. The one-page class budget below is a planning budget. A final budget will be published each year before the year starts.

A one-page class budget is a launch requirement

Here is the one-page budget for the DJ classes (item 14 on the launch checklist). It is a planning budget: the two resident instructors are paid $250 a session, the gear, which is being sought through grants and donations, is priced at new retail, and insurance, music licensing and showcase sound are shown as reserves until quotes arrive.

No Ras Tafari Inc. officer, director or staff member is paid for work on the Lab today. A paid role is allowed only if directors with no stake in it approve it, at a fair rate based on comparable programs, paid through payroll and reported publicly (see the conflict of interest policy, section 12). They may be reimbursed for documented, pre-approved expenses. Both instructors are paid DJ trainers who are not members of Ras Tafari Inc.

The 2027 year-round program: 39 Tuesdays, 12 stations, 4 LED booths

• About $75,100 in cash for the first year, plus about $59,500 of equipment sought through grants and donations: about $134,600 in all. Q-Ality Sound is $1,200 for each Rainbow Wednesday. Children join any Tuesday, so there is no fixed per-child cost.
• The DJ gear is being sought through grants and donations and will be owned by Ras Tafari Inc. It will be a charitable asset, inventoried and used only for Ras Tafari Inc. programs (see equipment use). It's reused every Tuesday, so it doesn't need to be bought again.
• No stipends in classes. Stipends for young performers are paid at Rainbow Wednesdays, which has its own budget.
• Funding: arts and youth grants, sponsors and Ras Tafari Inc. The class is free to families. No class starts until its funding is in place.
• Ras Tafari Inc.'s role: it will own the gear and its officers coordinate the Lab without pay. Any payment to Ras Tafari Inc., its officers or any vendor will be shown here.

Every year's budget will show:

• instructors (paid trainers who are not Ras Tafari Inc. members)
• gear and the lending library
• ear protection
• any CPD background-check costs
• the Lab's share of insurance
• sound, stage and lighting (Q-Ality Sound), paid or donated

It will also show any payment to Ras Tafari Inc., its officers or a vendor, as our conflict of interest policy commits. The figures above are proposed planning figures, not final.

The Lab is free

• No tuition and no fees to enroll.
• All equipment is provided: controllers, laptops, headphones and earplugs.
• A child's place never depends on whether their family gives money.

How the Lab is paid for

The Lab will be funded by a mix of:

• grants from foundations and public programs;
• sponsors, meaning businesses and organizations that support the program;
• Ras Tafari Inc.'s own funds.

No funding amounts for the Lab have been set or committed yet. We will not publish figures until they are real.

Sponsors get recognition. They do not get any child's or family's information, any say in who enrolls or performs, or the right to photograph or record children. See the privacy policy and the data-sharing agreement.

What we will publish each year

Before each year starts, we will post a budget showing:

1. Expected income by source type (grants, sponsors, Ras Tafari Inc.), naming each grant maker and sponsor.
2. Planned spending by category, such as equipment, training, insurance, trainer pay, sound, stage and lighting, supplies, and family communications.

After each year ends, we will post:

1. Actual income and spending against the budget, with an explanation of any big differences.
2. Safety spending, including screening, training and insurance, shown on its own line so families can see we paid for it.
3. Any money moved between the Lab and SelassieFest, or other Ras Tafari Inc. programs, and why.

These reports will be part of the community accountability report.

Who oversees the money

• Paul Kelly, Vice President and Treasurer, oversees Lab finances.
• Separation of duties: the person who selects a vendor doesn't approve its invoice, and neither of them signs the payment.
• The board reviews Lab payments every quarter.
• Gifts: no one covered by the policy accepts gifts or hospitality worth more than $50 a year from a vendor or sponsor, and any larger offer is reported within 14 days.
• Spending decisions involving a possible conflict follow the conflict of interest policy. Q-Ality Sound's terms are approved only by directors with no tie to Q-Ality.
• Concerns about misuse of funds can be raised under the whistleblower policy.

Your right to inspect our IRS filings

Federal law gives everyone the right to see certain records of a 501(c)(3) public charity. Ras Tafari Inc. will follow these rules:

• Annual information returns. Ras Tafari Inc.'s annual returns filed with the IRS (the Form 990 series), with their schedules and attachments, for the three most recent years. Under IRS rules, donor names and addresses are not required to be disclosed by public charities.
• The exemption application. Ras Tafari Inc.'s application for tax exemption, its supporting documents, and any letter or document the IRS issued about the application, including the determination letter.

How to ask:

• In person: at 1401 E. 71st St., Chicago, IL 60619. Under the IRS regulation, copies requested in person are generally provided the same day.
• In writing: email stephen@selassiefest.com or mail the address above. Under the regulation, copies are mailed within 30 days of receiving the request.
• Cost: we will not charge for copies sent by email. For paper copies, the law allows only a reasonable fee (no more than standard per-page copying charges plus actual postage), and we may waive it.

You can also search for Ras Tafari Inc. in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov.

Sources

• IRS, Public disclosure and availability of exempt organizations returns and applications: documents subject to public disclosure. It covers the exemption application with "any letter or document issued by the IRS concerning the application," annual returns with schedules and attachments, the three-year availability period, and the rule that public charities need not disclose contributor names and addresses.
• Treasury Regulation 26 CFR 301.6104(d)-1 (copies for in-person requests generally the same day; written requests within 30 days; reasonable fee limits), as published by the Legal Information Institute at law.cornell.edu.
• IRS, Instructions for Form 990, Part VI, Section C (Disclosure).