Accountability
July 8, 2015 at 6:00 am
Would-be president and billionaire businessman Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about Mexico and Mexicans cost him another business deal on Monday as the world’s largest sports broadcaster scratched his golf course for a charity match. ESPN, the sports channel which is majority-owned by Disney, on Monday said it would pull a charity golf event from a…
June 24, 2015 at 1:59 pm
Skimming cash, purchasing schemes and financial statement fraud—three very different types of fraud that nonprofits must prevent, detect and insure against. Still, behind each of them—and every variety of deliberate, deceptive acts against nonprofits—there’s a fundamental and shared dynamic at play. Fraud isn’t just an operational or financial risk. It’s inherently a human risk, meaning it often…
June 22, 2015 at 12:41 pm
If any one of these traits are yours, either you need to change something or decide that perhaps you are in the wrong position. Look, we are all on a journey. But why continue on the path that is making you miserable? Doing it just for the money is not fair to you or your organization’s donors.
June 17, 2015 at 1:06 pm
More than a dozen community groups filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service Monday alleging that the Walmart Foundation violated its tax-exempt status by using charitable funds to advance the retailer’s entrance into urban markets including Washington. The 22-page complaint, addressed to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, details the retailer’s marketing and lobbying activities as…
April 24, 2015
I recognize the inherent risks associated with letting go of tight financial controls. I see the awkwardness of talking to donors about the cost of raising a dollar. I see our industry playing Twister—Semantic Version with expense allocation, coming out with legal structures that allow us to say, "100 precent of your donation goes to the cause." We all know that offices, desks, computers, employees, etc., are not free. We know a marketing-minded visionary donor agreed to "0 percent of your donation goes to the cause" to allow us to make that other statement legally, though not logically.
April 22, 2015
View for a thorough primer on all of the laws, technologies and best practices you need to know to reach your supporters by email.
April 22, 2015
Those of us in the nonprofit arena have a responsibility—and an accountability—to build things that outlast us. It's not about us as CEO, or chief development officer, or board chair, or board member. It's about building an organization that is sustainable and can grow in support of a worthy mission.
February 20, 2015
It is up to the thousands of honest and ethical fundraising professionals to look out for potential fraud and abuse in our profession.
January 27, 2015
Ted Hart speaks with Art Taylor, president and CEO of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance; Jacob Harold, president and CEO of GuideStar; and Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, about the overhead myth on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.
December 11, 2014
Liz's worthy organization sought to be frugal for years. Not a bad thing. Gradually, but surely, this desire to be financially responsible morphed into a cost-cutting monster. That's when the need to keep faith with investors, donors — those who pay the bills — somehow got lost in the desire to maximize cash flow and reduce overhead to zero — if possible.
