Bram
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2006
- Messages
- 227
I belong to a non-profit "club" of about 100 members. I've served as Treasurer for about 1 1/2 years & we will elect a new one for a 2 yr term @ the end of the year. I'm not at all interested in running for reelection. Our treasury has about $15-18K in it & typically runs over $10K.
When I took over, things were unorganized, messy, & the possibility of some inappropriatness seemed to be there in my eyes. At a minimum the past Treasurer seemed wholly unqualified, IMO. I had never handled other peoples' money before but felt I could do a good job because of honesty, a penchant for numbers, organizing & analytical skills. I don't think the membership in general pays much attention & monthly approval of the reports is perfunctory. However, I have had several people say to me they think I am doing a good job & they appreciate my detailed, but easily understood reports. So they did at least notice improvements I initiated in the reports.
Basically selection of people to run for offices is started out with "is anyone interested?". Then it can progress to please step up to the plate.... PLEASE! So the next person elected as treasurer may be as slap dash as the previous, & only capable in their own mind.
We have in our by-laws that the treasury will be audited annually. Typically the President picks 2 members (with no particular qualifications) to do this & I suspect they don't dig into things too deeply & I seriously doubt anyone's feet would be held to the fire unless there were egregious, blatant errors or misdeeds (it's just a big mostly friendly, trusting group).
So I've been thinking maybe we should hire an outsider to do the annual audit. We might possibly grow to an average balance approaching $20K in the next year or so. Would this relatively small amount be worth it? How much would one pay for this? Would this serve as a deterrent for some small time pilfering? Do small time organizations typically have outsiders audit their books?
Any comments, ideas, or suggestions are appreciated.
When I took over, things were unorganized, messy, & the possibility of some inappropriatness seemed to be there in my eyes. At a minimum the past Treasurer seemed wholly unqualified, IMO. I had never handled other peoples' money before but felt I could do a good job because of honesty, a penchant for numbers, organizing & analytical skills. I don't think the membership in general pays much attention & monthly approval of the reports is perfunctory. However, I have had several people say to me they think I am doing a good job & they appreciate my detailed, but easily understood reports. So they did at least notice improvements I initiated in the reports.
Basically selection of people to run for offices is started out with "is anyone interested?". Then it can progress to please step up to the plate.... PLEASE! So the next person elected as treasurer may be as slap dash as the previous, & only capable in their own mind.
We have in our by-laws that the treasury will be audited annually. Typically the President picks 2 members (with no particular qualifications) to do this & I suspect they don't dig into things too deeply & I seriously doubt anyone's feet would be held to the fire unless there were egregious, blatant errors or misdeeds (it's just a big mostly friendly, trusting group).
So I've been thinking maybe we should hire an outsider to do the annual audit. We might possibly grow to an average balance approaching $20K in the next year or so. Would this relatively small amount be worth it? How much would one pay for this? Would this serve as a deterrent for some small time pilfering? Do small time organizations typically have outsiders audit their books?
Any comments, ideas, or suggestions are appreciated.