Transparency and Accountability
It is not enough that a community organisation does good work. It also needs to be able to show others that this is really the case, and to be open to outside scrutiny. Being "transparent" means that others, such as consumers, members, the board, or funding bodies, can see what an organisation is doing and how it operates. Being "accountable" means that those reponsible for the operation of the organisation, including staff and board members, are open to question and willing to take responsibility and change their behaviour where warranted.Incorporated associations are ultimately accountable to their membership. These are the people who "own" an organisation - who must be confident of its viability and comfortable with its ethical framework.
The Board is delegated by the membership to look after the organisation between Annual General Meetings (AGMs), so they are the stewards for monitoring accountability and transparency during the year. It is at the AGM that accountability is most visible, but it is important to develop it as part of organisational culture throughout the year.
Other people who require a level of accountability are stakeholders like funding bodies, consumers of services, and other community organisations. These groups require various levels of accountability, but it is usually a need to ensure that the organisation is viable and operates within certain ethical parameters.
There is more to accountability than just showing someone the financial reports. It is also about being able to report confidently on the processes that are used within your organisation as it gets its work done. This might be working within certain human rights or ethical parameters, it might be openly using Raising the Standard, or it could be ensuring regular surveys of members and / or consumers.
Transparency is about having processes that are clear and understandable. Consumers should find it easy to know what processes are in place to gain access to your service, and how to provide feedback. Staff should understand how employment, entitlement and workload decisions are made, and how to provide input to them. Funding bodies should be able to understand how responsibility is assigned in an organisation, and how funds are spent to achieve the outcomes of a funding agreement.
Transparency means that information about how the organisation operates is readily and easily available. For example, complaints processes about service provision should specificy what will happen to a complaint, who to complain to, and how long it will take the organisation to factor in your feedback and make any changes necessary.
Back to Boards: Accountability
