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The use of measures for transparency and accountability enhance the credibility and performance of the nonprofit health care philanthropy profession. It fosters public trust, promotes confidence in the profession and protects both the credibility of philanthropy and the interests of the public. |
The use of transparency and accountability standards improves the practices and increases the effectiveness of organizations by:
- educating staff and board members about good practices
- providing clear guidelines for making sound decisions
- assisting the public and other donors with evaluating charities and nonprofits before they make a donation
- being an indicator for donors that they are giving to an effective and ethical organization
Need more detailed reading?
- McGinly (2009). What your institution needs to know about conducting a Coummunity Health Needs Assessment. AHP E-Connect. December 2009.
Last month, the U.S. House and Senate both passed their versions of a health care reform bill. Due in large part to the efforts of AHP and the efforts of other nonprofit organizations and coalitions, neither the House nor the Senate bill contains a provision limiting the tax deductibility of charitable gifts. This does not mean, however, that we can now look the other way. We need to understand what is included in the bills and how it is likely to impact health care philanthropy.Learn more
- Wilhelm (2009). Study Says Few Foundation Use Data to Evaluate Themselves. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. December 9, 2009.
While many foundation officials say their grant-making efforts are achieving success, they rely heavily on anecdotal evidence and often fail to gather data about themselves and their work, according to a new report.
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- The Essentials of Foundation Strategy (2009). Center for Effective Philanthropy
Over the past decade, there has been much rhetorical embracing of the concept of “strategy” in philanthropy. Of the respondents in this study, 89 percent told us that the word “strategy” is used at their foundation to describe how they work to achieve their goals. But it is one thing to use the word and quite another to understand what it means in the philanthropic context — much less to put it into practice.
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- McGinly (2009). AHP on Capitol HIll: Sending a message of accountability. AHP E-Connect. May 2007
AHP was on Capitol Hill in mid-April visiting representatives on both sides of the aisle on the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. We focused on discussing the issues affecting health care philanthropy in the United States. AHP Director Kathy Renzetti and I learned more about the concerns and objectives surrounding non-profit hospital tax-exempt status and community benefit. We were able to demonstrate that AHP and our members are actively working to create and use standards and resources that provide transparency and accountability.
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- Tennebaum, Sitchler, Hiller (2008). The IRS Form 990: Putting Your Best Foot Forward. AHP Journal. Fall 2008.
Are you ready to tell your story The new U.S. Internal Revenue Service Form 990 allows tax-exempt organizations to better describe their activities and contributions to the community, but it also requires organization to provide significantly more information than in previous years. Learn what has changed and what you should be doing now to put your best foot forward.
Learn more
- SupportingAdvancement.com. What is the average cost per dollar raised?
A difficult question, and often calculated in a variety of ways.Benchmarking between organizations is not standard so costs per dollar raised can vary widely depending on interpretation and exclusion/inclusion of such things as facilities costs, the percentage of the CEO's salary that would be related to fundraising and many other items. Learn more
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Presentation Handout (October 2005). The Ratings Game and Proactive Transparency Learn more
- Presentation Handout (February 2007). Measuring Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Best Practices for Implementing Benchmarking Learn more
- CHA's Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefit (2008 Edition) Learn more
Need to participate and learn?
- AHP Performance Benchmarking Service
The AHP Performance Benchmarking Service is a fee-based member service designed to compare one organization's business practices against an industry leader in order to create new and improved business practices to help achieve fundraising goals and to better integrate philanthropy into the health care organization's strategic plan. Learn more
- Follow the Transparency & Accountability icon in the AHP Regional Conference Educational program guides: