"Accountability" has become an important watchword in fundraising. The need for it has always been a legal requirement in fundraising, but what it meant and the public’s awareness of it have developed in recent years. Our next few columns will...
Few topics generate more heated discussion in non-profit organizations than whether development professionals (staff or consultants) should be paid a percentage of the money raised, receive commission-based compensation, or be paid a performance bonus. Perhaps because it is a practice...
MOST FRAUD investigators would agree that the elements required for fraud to occur are motivation on the part of the perpetrator combined with opportunity. Opportunity generally arises through an organization's non-existent or ineffective internal controls. The more checks and balances...
Although it's generally unsubstantiated, we probably hear or read about fraudulent activity, on average, at least weekly. The headlines confirm that fraud - lying, cheating and stealing for financial gain - does occur in NPOs and, in some instances, may...
The law in Canada recognizes two basic approaches for somebody who has suffered damages to sue the person who caused the damages - contract law and tort law. In the case of contract law, two parties have come to an...
Most Ontario charities are aware - or should be - that they should address the potential for liability arising when their board of directors continues to delegate investment decision making to a discretionary investment fund manager. While a court might...
So, your board has a concern with a government program and has some suggestions for changes. The board instructs you, as the executive director, to let the appropriate ministry know and to try to get a change in the program....
1. Your mission is your lighthouse (a beacon in the fog) Clearly express your agency's reason for being and make it pervasive in your organization before you look for people who can help achieve long-term goals. (Placing your mission on...
Unlike the incorporating statutes for business corporations, there has been little statutory reform to bring the non-profit incorporating statutes into the 20th century, much less the new millennium. The standard of care, in general, for directors of non-profit corporations is...
A good friend has asked you to join the board of directors of a well known nonprofit. After the first meeting you realize this once flourishing organization is trapped in a blizzard of financial mismanagement. Or perhaps you were the...
