How the Fund Works
The Basics
The Rosen Ownership Opportunities Fund is not an endowment: funds will be used, not invested. Not more than 2% of the funds will be used internally for administrative and overhead costs. The NCEO will not pay indirect costs on grants it makes to institutions.
The Rosen Ownership Opportunities Fund will not make annual requests for funding. We are looking for establishment funds, not for an ongoing commitment. Contributions to fund may come from an individual, a corporation, or other legal entities.
Contributions supporting the Rosen Ownership Opportunities Fund are tax-deductible. Your contribution will be made to the NCEO, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (although see below for information about the separation between the fund and the NCEO budget).
Donors will be publicly acknowledged on this Web site, on fund documents and reports, and in public events, although donors may request anonymity.
Decision-Making Structure
An eight-member advisory committee will make recommendations concerning the use of the funds. The members of the advisory committee are:
- Corey Rosen,
- Victor Aspengren (nominated to be the chair of the NCEO's board),
- Loren Rodgers (the NCEO's new executive director),
- Tony Mathews (representing the Beyster Institute),
- Mark Lewis (representing Employee-Owned S Corporations of America),
- Bruce Brumberg (Editor-in-Chief, myStockOptions.com and myNQDC.com),
- J. Michael Keeling (representing the Employee Ownership Foundation and the ESOP Association), and
- Joseph N. Blasi (J. Robert Beyster Professor of Employee Ownership at Rutgers University).
The last five will recuse themselves from any decisions that involve directly funding projects of their own organizations, and, subject to both the NCEO board's overall authorization of ROOF and the board's ability to override any specific spending decision, Corey will retain a veto over any projects. The intention, however, is that decisions will be made collaboratively, and Corey has a long history of working that way with the staff, board, and other organizations.
How the Fund Will Interact with the NCEO Budget
The NCEO is a self-sustaining organization that does not rely on grants or contributions. That introduces some constraints into what can be done because NCEO projects generally need to pay for themselves directly or indirectly. The NCEO's compensation system has a very strong variable pay element based on annual operating income to make sure that there is enough money each year.
The Rosen Ownership Opportunities Fund will focus on projects that do not directly pay for themselves, and none of the funds will be used to augment variable pay, base pay, or for retirement benefits. The fund will be isolated from the NCEO's normal operating budget.
Starting in April 2011, Corey will be working two-thirds time or more on a largely volunteer basis to oversee and work on these projects, so the fund will require very little overhead. Nearly all the funding will go directly to the direct expenses and professionals specifically used for the projects, including both NCEO staff and others.