?? for those working with non-profits

[Deleted]

I know several posters here are involved as volunteers with various non-profit organizations such as churches, initiatives for blind/deaf, etc. so this question is for them:  Does your non-profit organization have a formal whistleblower policy which provides a statement of non-reprisal, reporting mechanisms, a compliance officer and such?

As most of you know, I serve on the board of our local community association, and we have a community member pushing us to adopt a rather complex policy dealing with this.  I feel it's a solution in search of a problem as we have a grand total of 1.3 employees and 16 volunteers.  But I always like to hear from others on how their organizations handle stuff

[jerseygirl]

Charity I’m on board is very small right now and all volunteer. We’re waiting to get a contract for 30 year on a vacant building at the NJ school for deaf. We do have Director and Officers insurance in case anyone accuses us of e.g. misappropriated money

We’ve been trying to get this contract with the state for almost a year. Maddening slow
When the contract is finally approved our charity will ramp up numbers of people needed to deal with the multimillion $ renovation . I don’t anticipate any employees. When the building is finally renovated and deaf and deaf blind low income seniors move in , our charity is planning to turn over management of the building to the company we’ll be working with. The company builds and manages supportive housing .

If we ever get to this point , and it’s been a looong journey. Our charity will then work on trying to get more buildings and renovate if needed.

[tskeeter]

May 17, 2023 16:07:25 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

I know several posters here are involved as volunteers with various non-profit organizations such as churches, initiatives for blind/deaf, etc. so this question is for them:  Does your non-profit organization have a formal whistleblower policy which provides a statement of non-reprisal, reporting mechanisms, a compliance officer and such?

As most of you know, I serve on the board of our local community association, and we have a community member pushing us to adopt a rather complex policy dealing with this.  I feel it's a solution in search of a problem as we have a grand total of 1.3 employees and 16 volunteers.  But I always like to hear from others on how their organizations handle stuff

Is the policy advocate a board member, employee, or volunteer?  Or are they simply a “community activist” who likes to tell others what they “should” do?

Has anyone asked the community member if they are aware of something the board should be concerned about?

Has anyone explored the possibility that the policy advocate may have their own agenda?  Our HOA attorney and HOA community management company proposed about 10 pages of new rules for our neighborhood.  Rules that were rather ambiguous and that would let the HOA decide what kind of dog you could have and that could be interpreted to prohibit you from wash your car in your driveway.  When a neighbor opined that if the rules had been proposed, we must need the rules.  I pointed out that the more rules we had, the more money the community management company made and the more money the attorney made.  The more rules you have, the more rules there are that you can break.  The management company gets paid for every letter they send to a homeowner regarding a rule infraction.  And they get paid again every time they do a follow up on a rule infraction.  If the homeowner doesn’t respond to the notice of rule infraction, eventually the HOA attorney will be consulted.  If the infraction ultimately results in litigation, the attorney will be able to charge the HOA tens of thousands of dollars.  Of course the management company and the attorney wanted more rules.  More rules meant more revenue for both of them.  So, is there any way your community member could benefit if your organization adopts the whistleblower policy?  Does the policy provide for compensation of whistleblowers?  Could the community member become a whistleblower?  If the community member became a whistleblower, could they sue your organization to some kind of damages?  Does the community member have a bone to pick with a board member, employee, or volunteer that can be pursued if the organization had a whistleblower policy?

[mollyanna58]

I volunteer with an animal rescue.  It became a registered 501(c)3 charity about 18 years ago.  There are about 200 active or somewhat active volunteers plus fosters.  We have none of the whistle-blower, etc. items you mentioned.

[Deleted]

May 17, 2023 18:29:43 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

May 17, 2023 16:07:25 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

I know several posters here are involved as volunteers with various non-profit organizations such as churches, initiatives for blind/deaf, etc. so this question is for them:  Does your non-profit organization have a formal whistleblower policy which provides a statement of non-reprisal, reporting mechanisms, a compliance officer and such?

As most of you know, I serve on the board of our local community association, and we have a community member pushing us to adopt a rather complex policy dealing with this.  I feel it's a solution in search of a problem as we have a grand total of 1.3 employees and 16 volunteers.  But I always like to hear from others on how their organizations handle stuff

Is the policy advocate a board member, employee, or volunteer?  Or are they simply a “community activist” who likes to tell others what they “should” do?

Has anyone asked the community member if they are aware of something the board should be concerned about?

Has anyone explored the possibility that the policy advocate may have their own agenda?  Our HOA attorney and HOA community management company proposed about 10 pages of new rules for our neighborhood.  Rules that were rather ambiguous and that would let the HOA decide what kind of dog you could have and that could be interpreted to prohibit you from wash your car in your driveway.  When a neighbor opined that if the rules had been proposed, we must need the rules.  I pointed out that the more rules we had, the more money the community management company made and the more money the attorney made.  The more rules you have, the more rules there are that you can break.  The management company gets paid for every letter they send to a homeowner regarding a rule infraction.  And they get paid again every time they do a follow up on a rule infraction.  If the homeowner doesn’t respond to the notice of rule infraction, eventually the HOA attorney will be consulted.  If the infraction ultimately results in litigation, the attorney will be able to charge the HOA tens of thousands of dollars.  Of course the management company and the attorney wanted more rules.  More rules meant more revenue for both of them.  So, is there any way your community member could benefit if your organization adopts the whistleblower policy?  Does the policy provide for compensation of whistleblowers?  Could the community member become a whistleblower?  If the community member became a whistleblower, could they sue your organization to some kind of damages?  Does the community member have a bone to pick with a board member, employee, or volunteer that can be pursued if the organization had a whistleblower policy?

She is an elderly community activist that no one ever heard of until last fall, and yes to 99% of the questions you pose about her intentions and motivations.  She set up a private social media group that is very vocal but has an underwhelming 35 members in a community of 6600 homes.  She has a very strong personal agenda, mostly stemming from her past employment in the nonprofit sector (lots of positions lasting 2-3 years each) and her LinkedIn profile says she's still seeking part-time work as an executive director.  Nonetheless, I try as a director to examine each of her demands in a fair way, looking at what other similarly sized organizations are doing.  She seems intent on reinventing our little organization in the mold of the larger ones she worked (briefly) for over the decades. We are not the United Way or the Better Business Bureau.   We are not a think tank at a local university.  We are a community association collecting voluntary membership fees to accomplish such glamorous things as spraying for mosquitoes and having a private security patrol.  Our meetings are open to the public and minutes and financials are published on our website.   

[Deleted]

May 17, 2023 16:39:49 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Charity I’m on board is very small right now and all volunteer. We’re waiting to get a contract for 30 year on a vacant building at the NJ school for deaf. We do have Director and Officers insurance in case anyone accuses us of e.g. misappropriated money

We’ve been trying to get this contract with the state for almost a year. Maddening slow
When the contract is finally approved our charity will ramp up numbers of people needed to deal with the multimillion $ renovation . I don’t anticipate any employees. When the building is finally renovated and deaf and deaf blind low income seniors move in , our charity is planning to turn over management of the building to the company we’ll be working with. The company builds and manages supportive housing .

If we ever get to this point , and it’s been a looong journey. Our charity will then work on trying to get more buildings and renovate if needed.

I've always admired the work you do to make this a reality.  I have a neighbor who is legally blind and seriously hearing impaired and there is just nothing out there for her so she struggles in her home with help from church members and neighbors.  

We too have Directors' and Officers' Liability coverage or I would not be on the Board.  

[jerseygirl]

We get at least once a week emails from people/families looking for places for deaf and deafblind older folks
It’s heart wrenching that the state is dragging this out so long.

[tskeeter]

May 17, 2023 18:54:17 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

May 17, 2023 18:29:43 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Is the policy advocate a board member, employee, or volunteer?  Or are they simply a “community activist” who likes to tell others what they “should” do?

Has anyone asked the community member if they are aware of something the board should be concerned about?

Has anyone explored the possibility that the policy advocate may have their own agenda?  Our HOA attorney and HOA community management company proposed about 10 pages of new rules for our neighborhood.  Rules that were rather ambiguous and that would let the HOA decide what kind of dog you could have and that could be interpreted to prohibit you from wash your car in your driveway.  When a neighbor opined that if the rules had been proposed, we must need the rules.  I pointed out that the more rules we had, the more money the community management company made and the more money the attorney made.  The more rules you have, the more rules there are that you can break.  The management company gets paid for every letter they send to a homeowner regarding a rule infraction.  And they get paid again every time they do a follow up on a rule infraction.  If the homeowner doesn’t respond to the notice of rule infraction, eventually the HOA attorney will be consulted.  If the infraction ultimately results in litigation, the attorney will be able to charge the HOA tens of thousands of dollars.  Of course the management company and the attorney wanted more rules.  More rules meant more revenue for both of them.  So, is there any way your community member could benefit if your organization adopts the whistleblower policy?  Does the policy provide for compensation of whistleblowers?  Could the community member become a whistleblower?  If the community member became a whistleblower, could they sue your organization to some kind of damages?  Does the community member have a bone to pick with a board member, employee, or volunteer that can be pursued if the organization had a whistleblower policy?

She is an elderly community activist that no one ever heard of until last fall, and yes to 99% of the questions you pose about her intentions and motivations.  She set up a private social media group that is very vocal but has an underwhelming 35 members in a community of 6600 homes.  She has a very strong personal agenda, mostly stemming from her past employment in the nonprofit sector (lots of positions lasting 2-3 years each) and her LinkedIn profile says she's still seeking part-time work as an executive director.  Nonetheless, I try as a director to examine each of her demands in a fair way, looking at what other similarly sized organizations are doing.  She seems intent on reinventing our little organization in the mold of the larger ones she worked (briefly) for over the decades. We are not the United Way or the Better Business Bureau.   We are not a think tank at a local university.  We are a community association collecting voluntary membership fees to accomplish such glamorous things as spraying for mosquitoes and having a private security patrol.  Our meetings are open to the public and minutes and financials are published on our website.   

Our HOA dealt with a similar situation.  A homeowner regularly used the HOA website to criticize the actions of the board.  Interestingly, this homeowner never attended a board meeting, had a discussion with a board member, or, apparently, never read the board meeting minutes that were mailed to him in order to understand the concerns other HOA members were raising.  He was simply an internet antagonist.  Eventually, the HOA took a put up or shut up approach.  The forum the antagonist chose to use was used to invite the antagonist to actively participate in the HOA decision making process by running for the next open board position.  Confronted with the opportunity to take some personal accountability and to contribute some personal time and effort to improving the community, the antagonist opted to shelve his criticisms.

In your case, would it work to explain to your community activist that your organization was intended to be a volunteer, minimal bureaucracy activity?  That current board members prefer not to deal with additional administrative complications.  But, if she feels strongly that her issue is imperative, the structure of the board could be modified to facilitate her creation and management of a whistleblower function.

Alternatively, you could explain that, faced with additional bureaucracy, the board is prepared to announce that it is disbanding, and why.  Then your activist can establish and operate whatever insect control and security patrol practices she considers appropriate.

Often, your critics aren’t interested in participating directly in your organization and making a contribution.  When they find that criticism without real contribution won’t be tolerated, their interest shifts to other pursuits.

[Deleted]

May 18, 2023 13:39:28 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

May 17, 2023 18:54:17 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

She is an elderly community activist that no one ever heard of until last fall, and yes to 99% of the questions you pose about her intentions and motivations.  She set up a private social media group that is very vocal but has an underwhelming 35 members in a community of 6600 homes.  She has a very strong personal agenda, mostly stemming from her past employment in the nonprofit sector (lots of positions lasting 2-3 years each) and her LinkedIn profile says she's still seeking part-time work as an executive director.  Nonetheless, I try as a director to examine each of her demands in a fair way, looking at what other similarly sized organizations are doing.  She seems intent on reinventing our little organization in the mold of the larger ones she worked (briefly) for over the decades. We are not the United Way or the Better Business Bureau.   We are not a think tank at a local university.  We are a community association collecting voluntary membership fees to accomplish such glamorous things as spraying for mosquitoes and having a private security patrol.  Our meetings are open to the public and minutes and financials are published on our website.   

Our HOA dealt with a similar situation.  A homeowner regularly used the HOA website to criticize the actions of the board.  Interestingly, this homeowner never attended a board meeting, had a discussion with a board member, or, apparently, never read the board meeting minutes that were mailed to him in order to understand the concerns other HOA members were raising.  He was simply an internet antagonist.  Eventually, the HOA took a put up or shut up approach.  The forum the antagonist chose to use was used to invite the antagonist to actively participate in the HOA decision making process by running for the next open board position.  Confronted with the opportunity to take some personal accountability and to contribute some personal time and effort to improving the community, the antagonist opted to shelve his criticisms.

In your case, would it work to explain to your community activist that your organization was intended to be a volunteer, minimal bureaucracy activity?  That current board members prefer not to deal with additional administrative complications.  But, if she feels strongly that her issue is imperative, the structure of the board could be modified to facilitate her creation and management of a whistleblower function.

Alternatively, you could explain that, faced with additional bureaucracy, the board is prepared to announce that it is disbanding, and why.  Then your activist can establish and operate whatever insect control and security patrol practices she considers appropriate.

Often, your critics aren’t interested in participating directly in your organization and making a contribution.  When they find that criticism without real contribution won’t be tolerated, their interest shifts to other pursuits.

You are 100% right about those who whineth much and worketh not.  However, by spending her time on her multiple social media platforms, her website, and the deluge of emails to the board, she makes our lives living hell and convinces sycophant followers that we are the axis of evil personified.  She declines to run for office.  And some of those who did spend much time and $$ campaigning for the board last year rarely show up and contribute nothing when they do.  

[tskeeter]

May 18, 2023 16:18:28 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

May 18, 2023 13:39:28 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Our HOA dealt with a similar situation.  A homeowner regularly used the HOA website to criticize the actions of the board.  Interestingly, this homeowner never attended a board meeting, had a discussion with a board member, or, apparently, never read the board meeting minutes that were mailed to him in order to understand the concerns other HOA members were raising.  He was simply an internet antagonist.  Eventually, the HOA took a put up or shut up approach.  The forum the antagonist chose to use was used to invite the antagonist to actively participate in the HOA decision making process by running for the next open board position.  Confronted with the opportunity to take some personal accountability and to contribute some personal time and effort to improving the community, the antagonist opted to shelve his criticisms.

In your case, would it work to explain to your community activist that your organization was intended to be a volunteer, minimal bureaucracy activity?  That current board members prefer not to deal with additional administrative complications.  But, if she feels strongly that her issue is imperative, the structure of the board could be modified to facilitate her creation and management of a whistleblower function.

Alternatively, you could explain that, faced with additional bureaucracy, the board is prepared to announce that it is disbanding, and why.  Then your activist can establish and operate whatever insect control and security patrol practices she considers appropriate.

Often, your critics aren’t interested in participating directly in your organization and making a contribution.  When they find that criticism without real contribution won’t be tolerated, their interest shifts to other pursuits.

You are 100% right about those who whineth much and worketh not.  However, by spending her time on her multiple social media platforms, her website, and the deluge of emails to the board, she makes our lives living hell and convinces sycophant followers that we are the axis of evil personified.  She declines to run for office.  And some of those who did spend much time and $$ campaigning for the board last year rarely show up and contribute nothing when they do.  

Is membership in your community association a right/obligation derived from home ownership, or is membership entirely voluntary?  One possible response might be to inform your activist and her acolytes that participation is voluntary and that if she/they don’t like organization’s practices, she/they are not compelled to participate.  In fact, their participation is no longer welcome and that any future criticism will be considered harassment and that any such criticism will be responded to in an appropriate fashion.  (If you need to push it to this point; to cover your bases, you might want to consider investing a few hundred with an attorney and have the attorney handle the correspondence with your activist,)

[Deleted]

May 18, 2023 17:48:56 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

May 18, 2023 16:18:28 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

You are 100% right about those who whineth much and worketh not.  However, by spending her time on her multiple social media platforms, her website, and the deluge of emails to the board, she makes our lives living hell and convinces sycophant followers that we are the axis of evil personified.  She declines to run for office.  And some of those who did spend much time and $$ campaigning for the board last year rarely show up and contribute nothing when they do.  

Is membership in your community association a right/obligation derived from home ownership, or is membership entirely voluntary?  One possible response might be to inform your activist and her acolytes that participation is voluntary and that if she/they don’t like organization’s practices, she/they are not compelled to participate.  In fact, their participation is no longer welcome and that any future criticism will be considered harassment and that any such criticism will be responded to in an appropriate fashion.  (If you need to push it to this point; to cover your bases, you might want to consider investing a few hundred with an attorney and have the attorney handle the correspondence with your activist,)

Purely voluntary membership contributions $80/year and $170 more if you want to support private security patrol.  She's not worth the attorney $$ although we do run a few of her more outrageous demands past him to be sure we are on solid ground.

[tskeeter]

May 18, 2023 18:03:11 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

May 18, 2023 17:48:56 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Is membership in your community association a right/obligation derived from home ownership, or is membership entirely voluntary?  One possible response might be to inform your activist and her acolytes that participation is voluntary and that if she/they don’t like organization’s practices, she/they are not compelled to participate.  In fact, their participation is no longer welcome and that any future criticism will be considered harassment and that any such criticism will be responded to in an appropriate fashion.  (If you need to push it to this point; to cover your bases, you might want to consider investing a few hundred with an attorney and have the attorney handle the correspondence with your activist,)

Purely voluntary membership contributions $80/year and $170 more if you want to support private security patrol.  She's not worth the attorney $$ although we do run a few of her more outrageous demands past him to be sure we are on solid ground.

The reason for recommending an attorney is twofold.  First, to confirm that your community association would be considered as a private club, not as a public accommodation.  (I believe that many years ago, the courts decided that the Boy Scouts were a public accommodation and as such, there were requirements the Boy Scout had to adhere to.  In that case, I believe the Boy Scouts were forced to admit girls.). Second, a letter from a lawyer sends the message that you are done screwing around with them.  And that there are likely to be consequences from future activity.

I have made the assumption that you have verified that your activist has the legal standing to justify their complaints.  In the case of our HOA, our bylaws and CC&R’s say that only a homeowner has standing with the HOA.  If a tenant, or a guest of a homeowner, or a member of the general public were to submit a criticism, complaint, or suggestion to the HOA, the HOA response would be to tell them to pound sand.

[Deleted]

May 18, 2023 18:29:26 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

May 18, 2023 18:03:11 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Purely voluntary membership contributions $80/year and $170 more if you want to support private security patrol.  She's not worth the attorney $$ although we do run a few of her more outrageous demands past him to be sure we are on solid ground.

The reason for recommending an attorney is twofold.  First, to confirm that your community association would be considered as a private club, not as a public accommodation.  (I believe that many years ago, the courts decided that the Boy Scouts were a public accommodation and as such, there were requirements the Boy Scout had to adhere to.  In that case, I believe the Boy Scouts were forced to admit girls.). Second, a letter from a lawyer sends the message that you are done screwing around with them.  And that there are likely to be consequences from future activity.

I have made the assumption that you have verified that your activist has the legal standing to justify their complaints.  In the case of our HOA, our bylaws and CC&R’s say that only a homeowner has standing with the HOA.  If a tenant, or a guest of a homeowner, or a member of the general public were to submit a criticism, complaint, or suggestion to the HOA, the HOA response would be to tell them to pound sand.

It's complicated b/c we are not a HOA with mandatory dues so we fall under one part of our state's laws versus HOA's with mandatory dues that fall under another.  The challenge here is that the property owners/residents/tenants etc want the protections of a mandatory dues HOA without the mandatory dues.  We do the best we can but get kicked in the teeth every day.