Social Audits
President's
Letter
Next
Dear
<President>
During
the past year several businesses and nonprofit organizations accepted our
invitation to participate, at no cost to them, in a breakthrough project.
We
conducted prototype Social Responsibility Audits (SRA), probably the first few
such efforts in the USA, and used these test sites to validate the measurement
instruments we have been developing over the past five years. An SRA involves
interviews with management, staff, vendors and other stakeholders, and review of
internal documentation, supporting social responsibility assertions.
The
results were shared with participants confidentially, although our ultimate goal
was to render a report sufficient for public exposure taking credit for
corporate social responsibilities and identifying opportunities for additional
learning.
Given
the landscape of philanthropy and capital formation these days, where greater
funding is available than ever before, accompanied by more accountability than
in the past, we are finding a heightened atmosphere of threats and opportunities
for private and public businesses as well as not-for-profits.
A
purpose of the SRA is to serve as an early warning system for avoiding fallout
from threats, but more importantly, as a foundation for efforts to attract
funding whether in the form of venture capital, community-bank lending, planned
giving, or general fund raising from government or institutional sources.
I
have enclosed an outline of our SRA and encourage your joining this adventure in
expanding our reach toward a better community. I will call you to discuss your
interest in the project.
Rolland Vasin, MS, CFE, CPA
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