The Accountability of Nonprofit Institutions in a Free Society

Abstract

During the last decade, there has been an increasing demand from the government, clients, certifying bodies, and the contributing public for human service agencies to provide full information about their finances, operation, and services. For such accountability to be both accurate and meaningful, the agency must be organized along sound administrative and managerial lines and must operate according to the standards established within each operational area (accounting, fund-raising, public relations, etc.). The credibility, and thus the survival, of the agency is at stake. In addition, the ability of the agency to improve its services is enhanced by the constant internal monitoring and evaluation that must be carried out if an agency is seeking to be truly accountable.