Governance

The Foundation is governed by its Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Internal Revenue rules for tax-exempt corporations. An independent audit is conducted annually. The Board of Trustees consists of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer and is empowered to formulate rules, regulations, and practices relative to the Foundation’s day-to-day business. The President and Executive Director of AGI are ex-officio, non-voting members of the AGIF Board of Trustees. The AGIF Executive Director, the non-voting principal executive reporting to the Board of Trustees, serves at the pleasure of the Board and is responsible for implementing the Foundation’s objectives as directed. The AGIF’s financial managers, Woodway Financial Advisors - A Trust Company in Houston, Texas, have fiduciary responsibility to manage the Foundation’s programmatic and endowment accounts.

Operating Principles

The AGI Foundation (AGIF) is a non-profit, non-stock corporation operating under the laws of the state of Virginia and in accordance with Internal Revenue Service codes governing tax-exempt charitable and educational organizations. The AGIF provides start-up, development, or matching funds for AGI programs approved by the Foundation Trustees. Continuous support for ongoing programs normally will not be funded. To secure support, the Institute must provide a preliminary business plan for the project that includes descriptions of needs, objectives, expected outcomes, and probable sources for matching funding. When appropriate, the Foundation may seek or provide support for Member Society education programs having a national scope and funding from sources mostly generated by the sponsoring society. Approval from both the Board of Trustees of the Foundation and the AGI Executive Committee is required. The Foundation does not contribute to Member Society endowments.

Membership

Participation as a Trustee is voluntary; there are no dues or fees. The primary role of Trustee members is to raise funds to support specific programs sponsored by the Foundation. The AGIF seeks members who are geoscience leaders in industry, academia, and government, and who have a keen interest in promoting Earth science, particularly in education. Industry members should demonstrate a willingness to contribute time and effort toward raising funds to further the goals of AGI and its Foundation. All members should provide some financial support to the Foundation consistent with their own abilities and needs. The Foundation recognizes that the amount each person can donate will vary significantly but Trustee members’ contributions can be in many forms and should not always be measured in financial terms.

Specific Trustee Responsibilities

  • Seeking corporate, private foundation, and individual support for AGI programs and activities;

  • Securing gifts and endowment funds to generate income for approved new and discretionary programs;

  • Evaluating AGI programs funded through the Foundation to assure their conforming with the funding plans;

  • Providing advice to AGI on trends in industry, government, and education relating to AGI programs and serving as a resource for AGI, its Executive Committee, and staff.