All non-profit organizations should have a mission statement, corporate by-laws, board of directors’ governance guidelines, and a systems and procedures manual.
Most large non-profit entities have these items in place, and if they do, they should review them every few years to revise and update them if needed.
These are purely basic business documents, however in a non-profit setting, they become an important source of backup and protection.
They serve both the employees and the board of directors in the event that any outside party(s), question the internal set up or operations of the organization.
During the preparation of audited or reviewed financial statements, the outside CPA firm will ask to review these documents as part of their normal procedure.
They will also ask to review board of director minutes, so the board secretary should have these documents accessible and available for their review.
Other items that a non-profit entity should have are; an employee manual, organizational chart, a listing of the board of directors, interim financial statements, executed contracts, a listing of donors and the amount donated and finally, the most recent 990 tax return.
Some of the above items will also be needed during the application process for grants requests from foundations, and government financial support at the local, state, and federal levels.
This is not an all-encompassing list, but it does contain enough information that will satisfy most of the document requirements needed in the normal course of a fiscal year.
For more information on our non-profit consulting services, please contact us at 330-620-2761. We look forward to helping you!
