Same Sad Story---Different Day
It always makes me so sad and upset when I read a similar storyline regarding a nonprofit and theft. When are we ever going to learn?
A recent series of stories from Indiana tells the tale of an executive director/CEO who was found to have taken more than $156,000 over a five-year period from a nonprofit whose annual revenue is only $137,000. While I believe in the innocence of anyone accused, the facts are pretty damning. Basically, the individual purchased goods and services from businesses via the organization’s credit card. The nonprofit, after the realization of the missing money, began to admit a lack of institutional control that would have eliminated even the possibility of this happening. No checks and balances.
I’d like to say this story is unique, but you can read about this kind of issue from anywhere. The local church. The local smaller nonprofit. And it always seems people are stunned that the person accused actually did what they're accused of.
I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of reading these stories.
Basic good governance is not optional, but a requirement. And you don't set up processes and procedures within a good governance structure for a specific person but to ensure terrible things don't happen at all. Even the smallest nonprofit has the ability to do this without a lot of encumbrances to people's time or business.
My wife has recently become the head of the Neighborhood Association. Being a good husband and somewhat overprotective, I started asking questions about governance. Who has access to the checkbook? Who has signing authority? Are there minutes for the meetings? After 25 years, my wife was neither surprised nor upset at the questions. It turned out the answers to most of those questions, the day she took over, weren’t great. But ensured order and without a lot of problems, changes were made to ensure good governance was in place.
Is my wife going to steal the money out of the account (always below $1,000)? No. Does that matter? No. What matters is a good process in a series of checks and balances to ensure the organization is whole… that its members, who happen to be our neighbors, trust that the right things are being done regardless of who's in charge.
When we realize that process is more important than who’s in charge, we'll stop reading the repetitious stories regarding someone stealing money from a nonprofit and using it for personal benefit.
