Board Governance: Sharpening the focus on accountability at Grant Thornton

Governance has never been more important. In these troubled economic times, Not-for-Profit organizations cannot afford to have loose governance policies and procedures in place. Having a strict focus on business risk and tighter controls are essential, as employees, management and even trustees are all being held to a higher standard of accountability.

Grant Thornton’s 2008 Grant Thornton National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations provides insight into how not-for-profit organizations are reacting to this heightened scrutiny. According to this year's survey findings, boards and management teams are focusing on the following:

• Governance policies: The vast majority of responding organizations have conflict-of-interest (92%), records-retention (81%) and whistle-blower (72%) policies in place.
• Fiscal oversight: Almost nine out of 10 (87%) responding organizations have a revised investment policy in place. For the first time, we asked if organizations have an investment committee; half (50%) report that they do.
• Executive compensation: Survey results show that seven out of ten (71%) of boards or the appropriate board committees are meeting once a year to discuss executive management's compensation and benefits.
• Form 990: Currently, only about half (45%) of organizations have policies in place for board members to review their Form 990/990-T, a percentage we expect to increase substantially in the coming year.

Want to hear more? Download 2008 Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations.

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