Governance Checkup

A board member's primary role is to ensure that the organization is well-managed, and there is no way to outsource the passion and selflessness that are necessary in order to do the job well. But within that role are numerous - and ever-increasing - responsibilities, including ensuring that the organization is in compliance with all laws and regulations. Those responsibilities can be overwhelming and all too often are overshadowed by day-to-day operations.

Oversight and governance are too important to ignore, though - and they can be more difficult than they sound, as laws and regulations change often. Barnes Dennig can help.

We monitor the ever-evolving regulations and offer a "Governance Checkup" - a report card of your organization's oversight, governance and ethical practices. The report includes a thorough evaluation of:

• Legal compliance and public disclosure
• Effective governance
• Strong financial oversight
• Responsible fundraising

It provides board members peace of mind by clearly identifying what is working and what needs to be fixed regarding governance and ethical practice. That, in turn, allows the board members to focus on achieving the organization's mission, which is why they chose to volunteer in the first place.

Details of the Governance Checkup

This report card is based on the 33 principles of good governance and ethical practice recommended by Independent Sector, a non-profit governance group of non-profit leaders across the United States. This group worked with Congress to provide assurance that the charitable sector was properly monitoring itself so that the federal government would not need to expand regulation. The 33 principles are available here.

The report is designed around attest services monitored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AIPCA) and includes a summary of results for board members to quickly distill. It also includes a listing of the 33 principles with related control objectives of your organization. For each control objective, we perform tests and document evidence confirming that the control is in place.