Our commitment to our supporters
ActionAid Ireland Head of Finance, Olive Corbett, discusses some of the ways we are accountable to our supporters.
ActionAid Ireland strives to be both transparent and accountable to our supporters. We believe that our supporters should be able to understand clearly how we work and how the money we raise is spent.
I joined the ActionAid team two years ago as Head of Finance. Having spent most of my working life in the corporate sector, whilst I had previously served on not-for-profit boards and committees, this was my first main role in the charitable sector. I was quickly very heartened to see the care, attention and importance that was placed on correctly accounting and stewarding all of our supporter donations.
Oversight
ActionAid is overseen by a voluntary Board of Directors. We also have a Finance and Audit Sub Committee of the Board in place to provide financial oversight and expertise to the organisation. As part of my role, I prepare monthly Management Accounts, and these are reviewed and discussed quarterly by our Board. The Board set the strategic direction of the organisation and provide importance governance and oversight to us.
The Board signs off on our Annual Audited Accounts each year and they are then presented at our AGM and shared on our website for any of our supporters or friends to review. You can read the 2019 accounts here and the 2020 accounts will be uploaded after our AGM in June.
Regular audits
We are externally audited annually. For the past number of years, we have worked with Crowe Ireland. They provide a rigorous service to us in reviewing the truth and fairness of our financial statements. This involves review and sample testing of our supporter donations, expenses, payments and accounting records. To enable this, we take care to keep meticulous records of everything we do each year.
ActionAid is part of an international federation, so we are also audited by their internal auditors on a rotational basis. Our most recent internal audit was in December 2020.
Standards
We strive to meet the best practice standards set for charitable organisations.
ActionAid Ireland has achieved the “triple-lock” of good governance and reporting standards: each year we publish our annual audited accounts on our website in compliance with the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) under FRS102; and we are compliant with the Charities Governance Code, as set by the Charities Regulator. We are also recognised by Charities Institute Ireland, of which we are a member, for meeting the Triple-Lock standards.
In 2020 we were shortlisted for an independent Good Governance Award 2020 by Carmichael.
Supporters can contact us
We aim to communicate regularly with our supporters on how we are using their vital donations, through letters, newsletters, emails, phone calls and dedicated supporter events.
If you have any questions on our work or how we meet the best practice standards for accountability, please contact us on [email protected] or on 01 878 7911.
Pictured above: ActionAid supporters at an in person event in 2018, taken by ActionAid Ireland staff. We have been holding events over Zoom since the pandemic began, if you would like more information on our next event please get in touch with us.