Attention Board Presidents! You might get this call...

After a week of traveling on business (for Sage), I returned to the office Friday to a somewhat confusing voicemail. It was a lovely woman from the City of Austin Health Services department, inquiring about an audit report, and if I could give her a call back.

I thought "hmmm....an audit report? I wonder if they are a fund accounting customer, and somehow got transferred to me instead of support."

So, I picked up the phone, and gave her a call. I introduced myself as calling from Sage, and she, too was equally confused.

Then the light bulb moment hit. She was calling on BookSpring - the nonprofit I'm president of, not Sage. Ahhhh...starting to make sense.

This group had received our audit report, and wanted to know if the board had reviewed the audit. Additionally, she wanted to know if we had an audit committee, if the board meets with the auditor, and if they could have the minutes for the meeting in which we discussed the audit.

Of course my responses were "yes, yes, yes, and sure - let me get them to you Monday since my documents are on my home PC."

If you've been following Austin at all, you might of heard of a well-respected nonprofit called Family Connections. This organization, the board, funders, and supporters were duped by a very smart, very clever executive director who basically took them for all their worth - and fled to another country where she has duality. (http://www.statesman.com/news/local/family-connections-shuts-down-561391.html)

There are three points to this post:

1. Board Presidents: expect to recieve more and more calls like this, particularly from funders and program supporters.
2. All board members: it IS your responsibility to understand the controls your organization has in place. Question, question, question - not everyone brings a strong financial background to a board, but we ALL are financially responsible for it's performance. Contact your local nonprofit membership organization if you need a starting place to ensure proper board governance!
3. Prospective board members: while this level of transparency is expected, does it make you nervous to join a board? If not join, take a leadership role?

I have lots of thoughts and predictions, but I'll save them for another post when they are a bit more formalized (and before I make an ass out of myself).

Until then....

Climbing a mountain you can't see - that's inspirational!

I’m typically pretty quiet about all the ways Sage employees across North America and the world give back to the community, but this story is way too cool not to share.

Greg DePinto is part of the ACT! for Sage sales team, and an active member of The Foundation for Blind Children (FBC) - http://www.seeitourway.org/. FBC is the largest independent organization providing resources for blind students in North America. Founded in 1952, the organization has become a national model for agencies serving the blind. Since the number of blind babies born in Arizona and those referred for services has increased over 300% in the last 10 years, the number of children and adults served through FBC has grown to over 2,000 in just the last year.

About 11 months ago, FBC recruited/trained members of its volunteer organization – Greg included – to guide eight blind students on a hike to the top of Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro. All 25 members made it to the top on June 29, breaking two world records along the way: (1) the largest group of blind climbers to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro and (2) the youngest blind climber to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro at age 13!

Besides this amazing achievement, Team Kili has also raised enough money to provide services to 52 blind children next year – funding the state had cut.

News coverage of this amazing achievement can be found here:
http://www.azcentral.com/video/?type=mavenfull&id=news&videoID=1177280351

And to learn more about the climb, you can also visit http://www.seekiliourway.org/

Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to celebrate this amazing accomplishment! People like Greg are some of the main reasons why Sage is a great place to work. We might be a global company with primarily business-oriented solutions, but we all carry a charitable heart and passion for our communities and wonderful causes.