Ethics/Accountability

On April 28, Independent Sector launched the new online Resource Center for Good Governance and Ethical Practice, a comprehensive collection of tools for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to enhance the accountability and transparency of their operations and ensure they operate in ethical ways.

At the heart of the Resource Center is the Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice: A Guide for Charities and Foundations, which showcases, through downloads or links, more than 250 model policies, research papers, templates, and other tools.

Sage North America introduced new payment processing security enhancements for large nonprofits using Sage Millennium, its highly customizable, Web-based constituent relationship management (CRM) software. Designed for diverse and complex fundraising programs, Sage Millennium version 7.9 includes a new, fully integrated Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant application from Sage Payment Solutions, Sage’s payments division.

BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. — God only knows what will happen to churches and other nonprofit organizations who say they are struggling for survival because of the Gulf oil spill crisis.

Months after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and its well started gushing oil, the British petroleum giant says it has yet to decide how to handle claims filed by religious groups and other charitable organizations that are endangered because people can no longer afford to contribute.

Pastor Dan Brown prays BP PLC comes up with a solution quickly: He said he filed a $50,000 claim last month over lost revenues at Anchor Assembly of God. His small, storefront church outlived Hurricane Katrina and is now struggling because of the oil crisis.

The Charities Review Council, a group in St. Paul, Minn., that serves people who support charities with financial donations, has launched revised accountability standards for nonprofits, along with an updated online tool nonprofits can use to review their compliance with the new standards.

Initially drafted in 1998, the council says it updated the changes to address charity performance in the areas of public disclosure, governance, financial activity and fundraising, and to reflect economic, demographic, legal and societal changes.

A major focus, the group says, is the importance of engaged and effective governance, with the revised standards reflecting questions posed by the new Form 990 that many nonprofits must file with the IRS.