Standard 1: Oversight of Operations and Staff - Organizations shall have a board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its staff. Indication of adequate oversight includes, but is not limited to, regularly scheduled appraisals of the CEO's performance, evidence of disbursement controls such as board approval of the budget, fund raising practices, establishment of a conflict of interest policy, and establishment of accounting procedures sufficient to safeguard charity finances.
LCA does not meet this Standard because its board of directors does not:
- Review the performance of the chief executive officer at least once every two years.
- Ensure that the organization‘s arrangements with outside fundraising firms are made in writing.
Standard 2: Number of Board Members - Soliciting organizations shall have a board of directors with a minimum of five voting members.
LCA does not meet this Standard because:
- The organization has three (3) voting members of the board.
Standard 4: Compensated Board Members - Not more than one or 10% (whichever is greater) directly or indirectly compensated person(s) serving as voting member(s) of the board. Compensated members shall not serve as the board's chair or treasurer.
LCA does not meet this Standard because:
- The paid chief executive officer also serves as the chair of the board of directors.
Standard 6: Board Policy on Effectiveness - Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.
LCA does not meet this Standard because:
- The board of directors does not have a written policy stating that, at least every two years, an appraisal be done assessing the organization’s performance and effectiveness and determining future actions required to achieve its mission.
Standard 12: Detailed Functional Breakdown of Expenses - Include in the financial statements a breakdown of expenses (e.g., salaries, travel, postage, etc.) that shows what portion of these expenses was allocated to program, fund raising, and administrative activities. If the charity has more than one major program category, the schedule should provide a breakdown for each category.
LCA does not meet this Standard because, in the organization's 2009 audited financial statements, the detailed functional breakdown of expenses:
- Only included one program service category. It did not include a detailed breakdown of expenses for each of its major program activities (i.e. investigations and education and public outreach).
Standard 18: Privacy for Written Appeals & Internet Privacy - Address privacy concerns of donors by (a) providing in written appeals, at least annually, a means (e.g., such as a check off box) for both new and continuing donors to inform the charity if they do not want their name and address shared outside the organization, (b) providing a clear, prominent and easily accessible privacy policy on any of its websites that tells visitors (i) what information, if any, is being collected about them by the charity and how this information will be used, (ii) how to contact the charity to review personal information collected and request corrections, (iii) how to inform the charity (e.g., a check off box) that the visitor does not wish his/her personal information to be shared outside the organization, and (iv) what security measures the charity has in place to protect personal information.
LCA does not meet this Standard because:
- Although the organization shares personal information about its donors with others, it does not provide a means (such as a check off box) in its direct mail appeals for donors to opt out of having their information shared.
Standard 19: Cause Related Marketing - Clearly disclose how the charity benefits from the sale of products or services (i.e., cause-related marketing) that state or imply that a charity will benefit from a consumer sale or transaction. Such promotions should disclose, at the point of solicitation: (a) the actual or anticipated portion of the purchase price that will benefit the charity (e.g., 5 cents will be contributed to abc charity for every xyz company product sold), (b) the duration of the campaign (e.g., the month of October), (c) any maximum or guaranteed minimum contribution amount (e.g., up to a maximum of $200,000).
LCA does not meet this Standard because:
- The organization participates in several promotions that indicate that LCA will receive "a percentage" or "a donation," but the amount going to LCA is not actually specified.