NonProfit Best Practices: Counting Money

Many nonprofits receive money.  The frequency and volume can vary: every week (Church weekly offerings), once a year (fundraising events), occasionally (event registrations). 

Theft of funds

According to the 2020 Report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the median loss due to fraud in nonprofits is $75,000!  And yet the most common attitude in a nonprofit is “but we trust them.” 

I hope you hire people you trust, but I also hope you practice the wisdom of Ronald Reagan, “Trust but Verify.”

Verification Procedures

1. Never Alone - Money should always be handled in the presence of two people.
2. Always Secured – Keep money in a locked safe (ideally with a combination that requires two people to open the safe). Use locking bank bags to transport to the bank. 
3. Separately verified – The person reconciling the bank statement should be separate from the staff member posting deposits to the accounting records.

Each organization is unique, and these procedures will be executed in different ways depending on the size of the staff as well as the volume and frequency of the presence of money. 

Just don’t let your guard down.  Theft happens – the news headlines confirm it!