Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing eNews extract

The following is an extract from the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing eNews and briefly discusses the latest news and important issues in the charitable fundraising industry.

Who can audit accounts?

A person who audits accounts for charitable organisations needs to be a registered company auditor, or have other approved qualifications or experience. You can engage someone who is not a member of a professional accounting body only if:

• your organisation's fundraising income or assets are less than $100,000
  
• you get written permission from OLGR
  
• the financial report is compiled as a special purpose financial report.

There also should be proper supervision and security over the collection container to ensure that it can't be easily stolen.

Can you discount raffle tickets?

Raffle tickets may be sold at a discount to encourage sales. Discounts should apply consistently from the commencement of the sale of tickets. There is no set raffle ticket price but you need to achieve at least a 40 per cent profit from their sale.

School fetes and fundraising for charity

If your local school plans to hold a fete and wants your charity to get part of the proceeds, you may have to authorise it to fundraise on your behalf. You only need to authorise the school if it is informing people at the fete that funds are being raised for your organisation.

Manage charity organisational disputes effectively

Many charitable organisations encourage members to contribute to robust debates. Sadly, diverse opinions may lead to disputes between members, volunteers or management. Disputes need to be resolved quickly before they escalate and affect the running of your organisation.  You need to include a mechanism in your constitution to resolve disputes which includes:

• A process to bring the parties together at an early stage and ensure that a full and fair opportunity to present a case is provided.
• Appointment of an independent person to arbitrate on the dispute or for referral to a Community Justice Centre for facilitated mediation.

Current Best Practice Guidelines only on web

Best practice guidelines, a great resource which discusses the management of charitable bodies, is now only available online.

What would you like to see in a future edition of Charity eNews? Send an email with your ideas to charity.inquiries@dasr.nsw.gov.au

For any queries regarding this eNews or for any other information contact OLGR
at: charity.inquiries@dasr.nsw.gov.au