Why don’t charities publish their monthly bank statements on their website, along with every invoice / receipt?
Is there one good reason not to?
Discussion
They'd lose all organisational agility if their treasurers were paranoid about public criticism. They'd never get anything done.
Their annual accounts deserve scrutiny.
That only makes sense if they are corrupt, or misallocating funds.
Not at all. Have you ever worked in big organisations? They are generally well meaning but slightly incompetent and lazy. Shining a light on that would paralyse them through constant butt covering.
That's the real world. 🤷♂️
They have to disclose financials annually, including top salaries of the leadership team. (Form 990 or a variant, depending on size). Many non profits post this on their websites and it is publicly available -- just call and ask for it.
With a minimal background in accounting or finance you can get an idea of what's going on.
If you want to know about internal ops, head to Glassdoor and check out employee reviews.
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