Every Christmas, a number of media campaigns always seem to spring up from atheist organizations to convince people that there is no God (the one above is from Portland, Oregon). Here is one question that I believe every human being, atheist or not, needs to be able to answer in an intellectual manner: Where did you come from?
As this article states (click here), the poor economy is likely to result in an increase in theft, especially for nonprofit organizations. As the article recommends, having more than one person involved with the finances of any organization is important. Having two signatures for all checks over a certain dollar limit is another good control. In addition to adopting this as a policy, set it up this way with the bank and have the limit printed on the face of the check (e.g. "All checks over $250 require two signatures.").
There is one key control you can put in place to significantly cut down on the possibility of theft. Have one board member or officer, who is not otherwise involved with the organization's finances, receive the bank statement directly. He/she should open the bank statement, review it, and ask questions about any checks or other transactions that don't seem to make sense.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about preventing fraud at your organization.
