During the past decade the number of Muslim charities raising funds has increased. Smaller charities have become large and larger charities have become more complex. As the size and reach of charities increases, the need for better and robust financial governance significantly increases. It is only through this, donor monies can be protected and spent properly on charity projects the donors intended for.
In addition to donors, the banks and the Charity Commission take financial governance and anti-money laundering risks very seriously as well. When things go wrong, interventions from both can have an effect of impairing charity operations significantly.
Charity Commission interventions have sanctioned Trustees and CEOs and when Banks feel unfordable with financial governance they have closed bank accounts and / or stopped bank transfers to vital operations.
What does good financial governance look like in a small or large charity? – this is where wrong questions can result in wrong answers – Trustees, managers and donors sometime fall prey to this.
What does good financial governance look like in a small or large charity – this is where wrong questions can result in wrong answers – Trustees, Managers and Donors sometime fall for this.
Low or no overheads does not mean good financial governance and neither does a good marketing pictorial report on beneficiaries nor a slick emotional video shown by a fundraiser.
Donors have the right to ask questions as it is donor money at the end of the that becomes management salaries, admin costs and relief to beneficiaries.
However, these questions must be the right ones to ensure charities prepare the right answers.
The Dua Financial Governance Standards do exactly that – they provide a comprehensive and meaningful framework for the right questions and for charities a relevant standard through which they can demonstrate their governance.
The Dua Financial Governance Standards does that – provides a comprehensive and meaningful framework for the right questions and for charities a relevant standard through which they can demonstrate their governance.
There is lots of guidance already available online – the problem with much of this guidance is the lack of knowledge and experience how they should be applied. Not one size fits all. These various guides are often not tailored to the size or the charity risks. They often have an effect of identifying gaps the charity already knew existed.
Dua Standards
The Dua Standards helps charities demonstrate responsibility, create trust and transparency, and reduces risk of fraud, error & inefficiency.
The standards focus on four clear outcomes:
-
The Trustees are adequately involved and accountable.
-
High level financial controls are in place.
-
The staff and skill dealing with finance are suitable
-
The charitable spend including Zakat spend is adequately controlled
The outcomes are matched to a total of 18 criteria tailored to four different income sizes of charities. This ensures the standards remain relevant to income size and underlying risks of the charity.
Approach
The approach to assessing compliance to the standard is designed to also produce / recommend credible action plans where gaps are noted. These action plans help those charged with governance to steer the management and charity in the right direction.
The result is an improved and enhanced financial governance that protects donor monies and makes the monies reach and travel further for the charity beneficiaries worldwide.
Next steps
Email the team at Dua Governance info@duagovernance.com for further information and timings for an independent professional review. This will include a certification with a credible action plan for any gaps identified.
