Colleen D.
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What does FATF Recommendation 8 mean for our NGO?
I've been seeing a lot about FATF and the 2024 legislative changes in newsletters from sector bodies but I honestly don't understand what it means for us on the ground. We're a small community organisation — after-school programmes, community events, nothing that sounds remotely like money laundering. Does FATF Recommendation 8 actually affect small organisations […]
What core policies should every CSO in T&T have in place?
We're trying to do a policy audit and figure out what we have, what we're missing, and what we actually need. Right now we have our constitution and a basic financial policy and that's about it. I've seen lists of all the policies an organisation should have and it's completely overwhelming. For a small organisation […]
How do we involve our members in governance decisions?
We're a membership organisation with about 50 member organisations. Our AGM attendance is really low — maybe 20-30% — and the members who do show up seem disengaged, like they're just there out of obligation. Decisions tend to get rubber-stamped without much real discussion. We want members to feel like they genuinely have a say […]
Why is having a complaints process important for a CSO?
Honestly I've always thought of complaints processes as something you put in place when things go wrong, and since we haven't had any serious incidents I've never prioritised it. But a donor recently included it in their due diligence checklist and it made me wonder if I've been thinking about this the wrong way. Can […]
What is the difference between outputs, outcomes, and impact in a project?
I always get confused between these three terms and I've been a bit embarrassed to ask before because everyone else seems to know. We're putting together a grant proposal and they're asking us to describe our 'outcomes and impact' and I want to make sure I'm answering the right question. Like if we run a […]
What should be included in a CSO’s annual report?
We've never done a formal annual report. We send grant reports to our donors and we post on social media but we've never pulled everything together into one document. A board member recently suggested we should start doing one and I agree in principle but I don't know where to start. What should actually go […]
What is a Fund Accounting System and does our CSO need one?
We manage all our finances in a single Excel spreadsheet right now. We have about four different funders and each one gave us money for specific activities — it's getting really messy trying to track which money has been spent on what. Someone mentioned we need a 'fund accounting system' but I'm not sure what […]
How long is an NPO’s Certificate of Registration valid, and do we need to renew it?
We registered about four years ago and I've been getting anxious about whether our certificate is still valid. I vaguely remember something about a five-year validity period when we first registered but I can't find the paperwork and I'm genuinely not sure if anything has changed recently. Does anyone know the current rules on this? […]
Should board members of a CSO be paid?
We're having a bit of an internal debate about whether to start paying our board members a small honorarium for attending meetings. Some people think it's fine, others are saying it's not appropriate for a non-profit. We're not talking about much — maybe a few hundred dollars per meeting — just to show appreciation and […]