How much money are non profit board members allowed to spend?
eddie smash asked:
I work for a midsize non profit and the board members and upper management are taking their stratigic planning meeting a little over the top this year. They used to just get together locally and meet and discuss the future. This year they are going out of state for a weekend with their spouses, all expenses paid by my non profit! What gives? Is this illegal? Unethical? or completely normal? It makes my blood boil. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Board members can have their expenses covered if they are travelling for purposes that support the nonprofit, and strategic planning would fall in this category. Travel and expenses for spouses are generally not paid for, nor should be, for the obvious reasons. However, it is not technically illegal for the organization to do so.
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Not illegal, not even unethical if they’re getting things done. It’s not all that usual, either: I can’t recall an instance of a local nonprofit doing that, although a national nonprofit would.
If you would like to look at the finances of the organization and see what people are making, in America you can look at. Look for 990 — those are the forms the organization files with the government. You can find out what the top five people get paid if they make over $50,000 a year. You might find that eye-opening.
You might want to sit down with your boss and ask about it — ask if they can explain it. They might sympathize with you, or they might have an explanation for it.
If you still feel upset by this, you can tell a local reporter at a newspaper, and they can make a few calls and look into it if they feel it’s abnormal. However, just be aware that if your organization gets bad publicity, they might lose funding, and that funding pays for your job. Is that a good result for you?