OPERATING MODELTrust is built, not asked for
A good mission is not enough reason to trust a new organization. This page explains how JJ’s Friends is run and the structures that hold us accountable, including the ones still being built.
Where we stand
JJ’s Friends is a Colorado nonprofit corporation recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity, with a determination letter dated May 28, 2026. We are registered with the Colorado Secretary of State to solicit charitable donations.
We are in our startup phase and have not yet served families through our formal program.
We would rather tell you what is true today than what we hope will be true.
Board
Three of four seats are filled. The Treasurer and Secretary seats are held by directors who are not the founder.
Leadership
Our founder serves as both Executive Director and Interim Board Chair. This is a deliberate, temporary arrangement for the founding stage.
Open seat
The Director-at-Large seat is open. Filling it is our top recruiting priority, because it adds an independent voice to every decision.
Join Our Team
GOVERNANCE
Our board is designed with four seats: a Chair, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and a Director-at-Large. The board approves the budget, oversees compliance, and protects the mission. The Executive Director runs the program and reports to the full board, not to any single director.
Three practices keep that structure honest while the founder holds two roles:
1. A second approval for major financial decisions. Our bylaws require it.
2. Annual conflict-of-interest disclosures from every director, with documented recusal when a conflict arises.
3. An independent seat. Adding a fourth director makes the board harder to steer with one voice.
We also plan a nonvoting advisory group for expertise the board needs, such as technology and disability community experience. Our aim is an organization that could continue without any single person, including its founder.
Financial controls
We are a small organization with no paid finance staff, so our controls are structural.
Two sets of eyes.
Major spending needs a second approval. The Treasurer holds co-approval authority under the bylaws.
Independent review.
We are formalizing a monthly review of account statements by the Treasurer, separate from whoever made the payments.
Restricted gifts stay restricted.
When a donor gives for a stated purpose, that money is tracked separately and used only for that purpose
Conservative planning.
We budget revenue cautiously and expenses realistically. Before each season, the board will review a plan and a downside scenario, so families never absorb our forecasting error.
Annual filings.
We will file our federal information return and state reports every year, and track the dates on a compliance calendar.
How donations are used. Our program spending is accessible tickets, parking, and the coordination that makes a game day work. We also have operating costs: software, the website, filing fees, and payment processing. We will report both, plainly
CHILD SAFETY
Our program serves children, so we set the safety standard before we need it.
JJ’s Friends delivers tickets, parking, and coordination. We do not attend games with families, and our program does not involve unsupervised time with children.
If that ever changes, these requirements come first. Anyone with unsupervised access to a child in our program must be screened, with background checks and, for many roles, fingerprint-based checks. A written safety policy must be signed, including a two-adult rule (no adult is ever alone with a child in our program) and clear steps for reporting a concern.
No volunteer will have unsupervised access to a child in our program until screening is complete and the safety policy is signed.
We also protect children’s information. We collect the minimum we need, and we publish nothing about a child without informed guardian permission.
Conflicts and records
A conflict of interest is not a scandal. Hiding one is.
• Every director signs an annual disclosure.
• A conflicted director states the interest, steps out of the vote, and the minutes record it.
• Board decisions are made by recorded motion. The minutes record what the board decided, in the exact words voted on.
• Families are selected on neutral, written criteria, documented the same way every time. No one connected to the organization receives preference.
Reporting results
We count what we deliver: game-day experiences, and families served. We also listen for what it meant, and we keep the two separate. We will not claim that a day at a game changed a life. The honest claim is strong enough: we removed real barriers, and a family spent the day together at a game.
The signal we trust most is whether families choose to come back.
What is still in progress
These are open items, listed on purpose.
• Filling the Director-at-Large seat, and adding an independent Board Chair.
• Building the advisory group.
• Completing our written child-safety policy and volunteer screening process.
• Formalizing a monthly review of account statements by the Treasurer.
• Obtaining general liability and directors-and-officers insurance.
• A written succession plan, so the mission continues if any one person is unavailable.
Our goal is not only a program that works this season.
It is an organization families and supporters can rely on for years.
Questions about how we are run? Contact us. ADA accommodations are available on request.
Reviewed October 2026