Our Due Diligence Process
Before joining forces with Ms Ritah Nabukalu (see "About Nicola Sian" page) I was on my own journey with what I considered "due dilligence". At first I had a clear boundary for all my online friends that I would pray for them but would not give money to anyone I only knew of online. This boundary helped sort out genuine friendships from those who were only interested in money. Over time I simply felt I had got beyond that with some of my online friends. I began giving personally to a number of needs. They all send copies of receipts for the spending of any money given.
However I needed more than this to ask others to give. James Kiige, like me, is a Bible Teacher so dialoguing around his daily “Soul Food” column was how our friendship grew. “Kiige” as he prefers to be called, is also a qualified accountant and training as an auditor. I asked Kiige if he would mind visiting Extreme High School. The, then, School fundraiser (who is now under investigation for fraud) took Kiige around the school introducing him to the students. Kiige interviewed him as they went around the school and videod the whole process. Kiige has followed the same process for me with another project I am in the process of evaluating. Kiige is incredibly perceptive, not only checking the things I ask him to but also following his own instincts to probe and get underneath anything that does not feel right to him.
Of course I now realise this is barely scratching the surface of the kind of accountability needed if we are to give safely to people and projects in other countries. Ritah's own organisation is the model we will use to, one by one, bring other Live in Love projects up to the same standard of accountability. Ritah has an intimate knowledge of the accountability processes the Ugandan Government requires of Non-Government-Organisations (NGOs) in her country. The Government requires an annual work plan which outlines measurable goals for the year. At the end of the year NGOs are required to report on what has been achieved and, if goals haven't been achieved, what were the challenges which prevented goals being achieved. They also are required to report on their sources of funding/donations provide a sustainability plan. Internally, organisations do quarterly financial/activity reports to keep themselves accountable so that they are well prepared for the annual reporting process. All of this is required to legally operate as an NGO. This is to eliminate what are known as "brief case NGOs"/scammers.
So our process will be to require
Another principle we will follow is to creating a direct pathway for money from sponsors and donors to where the money needs to be spent. For example, if an organisation requests help with an unexpected hospital bill, this will be paid directly to the hospital. They will be required to send an invoice from the hospital and we will make contact with the hospital independently from contact information provided by the organisations. Receipts for payments will be required.
A painful learning from the incident described in the "About Nicola Sian" page is that many of these documents, taken individually, can easily be falsified by a scammer, fraudster, or opportunistic individual. However, taken together, scammers, fraudsters, and dishonest individuals can usually be caught out because of the gaps in their information, or a lack of transparency in particular areas. So it becomes very important to pay close attention to any gaps or any sense of a lack of transparency.
However I needed more than this to ask others to give. James Kiige, like me, is a Bible Teacher so dialoguing around his daily “Soul Food” column was how our friendship grew. “Kiige” as he prefers to be called, is also a qualified accountant and training as an auditor. I asked Kiige if he would mind visiting Extreme High School. The, then, School fundraiser (who is now under investigation for fraud) took Kiige around the school introducing him to the students. Kiige interviewed him as they went around the school and videod the whole process. Kiige has followed the same process for me with another project I am in the process of evaluating. Kiige is incredibly perceptive, not only checking the things I ask him to but also following his own instincts to probe and get underneath anything that does not feel right to him.
Of course I now realise this is barely scratching the surface of the kind of accountability needed if we are to give safely to people and projects in other countries. Ritah's own organisation is the model we will use to, one by one, bring other Live in Love projects up to the same standard of accountability. Ritah has an intimate knowledge of the accountability processes the Ugandan Government requires of Non-Government-Organisations (NGOs) in her country. The Government requires an annual work plan which outlines measurable goals for the year. At the end of the year NGOs are required to report on what has been achieved and, if goals haven't been achieved, what were the challenges which prevented goals being achieved. They also are required to report on their sources of funding/donations provide a sustainability plan. Internally, organisations do quarterly financial/activity reports to keep themselves accountable so that they are well prepared for the annual reporting process. All of this is required to legally operate as an NGO. This is to eliminate what are known as "brief case NGOs"/scammers.
So our process will be to require
- their NGO registration number which we will check independently with the Government
- their physical address.
- their most recent annual work plan. That work plan should have all the detail the Govenment requires. We will expect that to be satisfactory to us as well.
- their most recent bank financial statement. We will check that the account is legitimate with the bank
- six monthly internal reports.
Another principle we will follow is to creating a direct pathway for money from sponsors and donors to where the money needs to be spent. For example, if an organisation requests help with an unexpected hospital bill, this will be paid directly to the hospital. They will be required to send an invoice from the hospital and we will make contact with the hospital independently from contact information provided by the organisations. Receipts for payments will be required.
A painful learning from the incident described in the "About Nicola Sian" page is that many of these documents, taken individually, can easily be falsified by a scammer, fraudster, or opportunistic individual. However, taken together, scammers, fraudsters, and dishonest individuals can usually be caught out because of the gaps in their information, or a lack of transparency in particular areas. So it becomes very important to pay close attention to any gaps or any sense of a lack of transparency.
