Why Some Organizations are Better at Driving Change ?
We live in a world where increasing complexity is the order of the day and the business landscape is characterized by a rapid turnover of companies which find themselves dethroned from their position because of outmoded thinking or anachronistic strategies. For instance, Nokia and RIM (the maker of Blackberry) were at the top of the […]
Reinsurance Policy Coverage: Advanced Scenarios
In the previous article, we have already seen that the scope of coverage of reinsurance policies can become quite complicated and open to interpretation. We now know that reinsurance policies are covered under three main different terms and conditions. However, over the years, there have been some complications have arisen in these different types of […]
Internal Controls in Nonprofits
Internal Controls and the NGO Sector In previous articles, we discussed the proliferation of the NGOs or the Non Governmental Organizations in contemporary times and how not all of them are above board in their funding and internal processes. Of particular note are the fact that there is a lot of foreign money flowing into […]
Emotional Intelligence for High-Performance Teams
Years of research reveal that Emotional Intelligence is a critical component which distinguishes a high-performer from an average performer. Team members having high emotional intelligence contribute towards the development of high-performance organizations and successful systems. Research findings prove that emotional intelligence is twice as important as the IQ in predicting the performance outcomes and the […]
Why Intrinsic Motivation Matters More Now In the Times of the Great Resignation
What is Intrinsic Motivation and how does it tie in with the Great Resignation? Among the different types of motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, or the ability of individuals to motivate themselves according to their inner needs and higher selves, matters more than ever in the present Post Pandemic Times. This is because due to WFH or […]
Though the non-profits sector is not a sector where each pie of money spent needs to be accounted for under the law, nonetheless, since donor funds are involved, there is a need to evaluate the programs and monitor them for leakages and fraud or even for the simple sake of ensuring that the intended beneficiaries are receiving the money that has been earmarked for them.
Moreover, in recent years, the government is also formulating laws and regulations that deem it necessary to evaluate and monitor the programs since the number of complaints about misuse of money and fraud has been increasing. Towards this end, the government has empowered the district level governmental authorities to keep a tab on the activities of the non-profits. Because of these factors, it is important that the programs undertaken by the non-profits are evaluated and monitored on a regular basis.
The program evaluation and monitoring can be done through internal and external audit. Internal audits are typically done by the members of the non-profits themselves whereas external audits are done by consultants and funders who send their representatives to perform an audit of how well the non-profit is doing.
The need for external audits arises as the objectivity and balanced approach to the audit can only be done by external parties who do not have a conflict of interest. Indeed, in many non-profits, there is an annual visit by the representatives of the funders who perform site visits and see for themselves how well the non-profit is utilizing the funds. Moreover, there are also periodic reports and progress sheets sent to the funders by the non-profits so that they are apprised of the situation on the ground. Finally, in these recessionary times when donors are few and the requests for assistance are more, there is a need for monitoring of the programs more than earlier.
Non-profits can follow some best practices like keeping trek of all the money spent on the projects, maintaining a head count registry where they record the details of the members who are paid to do work and the members who are given part time consultation fees. Apart from this, the non-profits must also ensure that they record the money spent on beneficiaries diligently and accurately.
Further, the best practices would also include getting an audit done by third parties meaning consultants who are not members of the non-profits or the donors. The key aspect here is that it is better to monitor progress and evaluate the performance of the non-profits regularly and reliably.
The non-profits sector is also becoming corporatized because of the rising professionalism both among the members of the non-profits sector as well as the donors. Further, there have been more instances of fraud and hence, it is imperative that non-profits get audits done internally as well as by third parties apart from the donor audits that anyway are done in case of funding from external parties.
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The Corporatization of the NGOs and How It Impacts Funders, Beneficiaries, and Others
February 12, 2025
