How Compliant Are Nonprofit Organizations?
Author InfoKeating, Elizabeth K. (Harvard U) Fischer, Mary (U Texas, Tyler) Gordon, Teresa (U of Idaho) Greenlee, Janet (U of Dayton) Abstract Audits are an important legal accountability tool used by resource providers (donors, grantors, and others) to assure that resources are spent by nonprofit organizations in accordance with the resource provider’s intentions. This paper reports on audits that are required by the government of the United States for organizations receiving large amounts of federal financial assistance. Since 1990, nonprofits receiving substantial federal funds are required to undergo this rigorous and expensive form of federal oversight. We report on 11,841 nonprofit entities that underwent such audits, and the 3,592 audit firms that conducted them, from 1997 to 1999. Overall, compliance with federal regulations appears to be high. Our study indicates that smaller nonprofits, those that are new to government grants, and those with prior audit findings have a signif
