There are some simple procedures you can put in place to protect your Not For Profit from fraud and ensure you have the confidence of your stakeholders.

Fraud costs Australia considerably more than any other type of crime but surprisingly there is still little known about the extent of fraud and for charities fraud and financial crime are among the biggest areas of concern. Ensuring that your organisation is best placed to avoid issues of fraud will not only reassure your staff and board members but also build confidence within your beneficiaries and supporters or donors.

Below are 10 tips to help your organsiation avoid fraud and build trust and confidence with all your stakeholders.

1. Have clear, written financial procedures and delegations

Have clear financial controls for all staff and volunteers to follow. For example, always have two people involved in the handling of money and cheques.

2. Implement robust HR procedures

Provide ongoing training and communication to staff and volunteers about fraud prevention and conduct appropriate checks when recruiting new staff.

3. Establish a code of conduct

Demonstrate and encourage ethical behaviours by recording it in a code of conduct. Display your code of conduct prominently and model it.

4. Define financial responsibilities

Make sure people in your charity understand their roles and responsibilities when it comes to finances and have the right skills and experience to carry out their roles effectively.

5. Develop a fraud prevention policy

Document a process on how to prevent, identify and respond to incidents of fraud and ensure staff members and volunteers are familiar with it.

6. Be secure when banking online

Choose secure internet banking passwords, change them regularly and limit who can have access to them.

7. Limit cash handling

Limit the amount of cash staff and volunteers handle. Large amounts of cash can encourage theft and fraud.

8. Regularly check your accounts and grant funding

Review and monitor your accounts and budget to identify variations and if you see significant variation, ask for more information. Always keep records of your grant funding.

9. Ask questions

Members of your board should feel comfortable asking questions about a charity’s finances, and managers of charities should make sure staff are accountable.