NonprofitEye

We've talked about the scary repercussions of trying to reach unrealistically high performance measures before.... I just came across an article that's apparently been around since 2003, How I Cooked the Books and Why . Written under the pseudonym "Phil Anthrop" (which is funny by itself), Phil tells the harrowing tale of good values going horribly wrong. I highly recommend this article to anyone managing nonprofit service contracts. Maybe when our funders ask us to meet some unreasonable metrics we should all just quote Nancy Reagan and "just say no." After all the same contracts require compliance with the Drug Free Workplace Act (product from the same administration). The article comes from a back issue of the Nonprofit Quarterly (which I am obliged to plug once again). Please be assured that no payment has been received for this nod (and I have no financial interest, etc)! I just love and admire that rag. Further reading from the " Eye ": ...

Development and Finance: A Broken Marriage? by pam ashlund This article is the start of a conversation on classic rifts that exist in nonprofit organizations. Today I'm blogging about the odd way that conflicts in Blackbaud's software products mirror departmental and emotional conflicts. Development and Finance - One department brings in the money ("develops" the funds) and the other counts the money. You'd think that would be a marriage made in heaven...but for some reason...not so much. This was evident, on two levels, at Blackbaud's 2006 Conference for Nonprofits. First, and most fundamental, at the software level: I attended the session on integrating two software products ( Blackbaud's fundraising product the "Raisers Edge" and its accounting product "Financial Edge"). You'd have to figure that two products from the same company would already be integrated (and certainly not require a class), anymore than one would think you...

How did all of this madness evolve? In the beginning was a social ill, a problem that needed solving. Enter government funds set aside to help with that particular problem. If 100% of your funding goes to pay for 100% of one project, you only need be concerned that the expenditures are reasonable right? Wrong! Read the federal regulations (if you can stay awake) and first find out if they are allowable costs. Once you have an allowable cost and determined that it is "reasonable" you should be in the clear. Unless.... Unless you have two sources of funds funding one project. Sound's simple, but that's when the trouble begins. Have $100,000 from source A and $100,000 from source B, it's logical to charge 50% of the costs to each. But wait, I hope you have a cost allocation plan. And wait, I hope that plan isn't derived from your budget. What? If source A pays for a counselor who spends 30% of her time on the project, then your 50/50 plan is not accurate. Fur...

A Nonprofit Closes after being labeled High Risk: SAS 99 - A Nonprofit Case Study by pam ashlund “The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves” Richard Bach Looking for how auditors assess risk? On July 31, 2006, The Washington Times reported that the Arlington Community Action Program (ACAP) was shutting its doors . Community Action Agencies have been providing poverty prevention programs since 1964 and Arlington was no exception, having just celebrated it's 40th anniversary and being awarded a commendation from Congress. What do we feel when one of our fellow nonprofits goes down? Worried that the situation will cast its dark shadow upon us? Sad that maybe it was unfair; or that they did good work; or that they didn’t know any better? In the end the best we can do is a careful post-mortem and then…learn from their mistakes…and hope that history won’t repeat itself. What happened at ACAP? First ask yourself “ what makes you feel safe ”? How about “ We’ve been in business for ove...