Ardene S.
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How do we maintain accountability to our donors without drowning in reporting?
We currently have four active grants and the reporting requirements are honestly overwhelming. Between narrative reports, financial reports, mid-term reviews and site visits I feel like I spend half my time reporting and not enough time doing actual work. I know donor accountability matters and I'm not trying to avoid it — but there has […]
What are the specific accountability challenges for umbrella CSO organisations?
Our organisation is an umbrella body for about 30 smaller community groups. Our accountability situation feels different from a typical service-delivery NGO because we're essentially accountable to our member organisations, not just donors. But we're not sure we're handling this well — some members feel disconnected and don't really know what we do with their […]
What safeguarding obligations do CSOs working with children have in T&T?
We run after-school programmes for children aged 8 to 16. We've never had an incident but I'm increasingly aware we don't have any formal safeguarding policy in place. We do some basic common sense things — no staff alone with a child, that kind of thing — but nothing is written down. I've been told […]
Are CSOs in T&T required to have an annual external audit?
We're trying to figure out whether we legally need to get an external audit every year. We're fairly small — our annual income is around $300,000. Our previous auditor retired and finding a new one has been expensive and difficult. A colleague told me that small NPOs below a certain income threshold don't actually have […]
What are the key responsibilities of a CSO Board of Directors?
I've just joined the board of a small NGO here in T&T and I want to make sure I understand what I've actually signed up for. The organisation has been around for years but I get the feeling the board hasn't been very active — meetings are irregular, most decisions seem to get made by […]