Overview of the Program
- History
The City Services Auditor Division (CSA) of the San Francisco Controller's Office launched the Citywide Nonprofit Monitoring and Capacity Building Program in 2005 in part as a response to the 2003 report of the Nonprofit Contracting Task Force, which included recommendations for improving how the City does business in this sector. In accordance with Appendix F of the San Francisco City Charter, the Controller's Office is mandated to provide oversight to City contracting procedures and to review citywide standards. The program serves to fulfill this responsibility as well as meet a high priority for participating City departments: to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of contracting procedures.
Facilitated by CSA, the program began with the participation of the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), Department of Public Health (DPH), and the Human Services Agency (HSA) and has since expanded to include a total of ten City departments.
- Program Governance
The Citywide Nonprofit Monitoring and Capacity Building Program is governed by an interdepartmental Steering Committee comprised of representatives from the Controller's Office and each participating City department. The Steering Committee is ultimately responsible for program coordination and policies, including determining whether a nonprofit receives a site visit or self-assessment. The Controller's Office is responsible for facilitation of the program.
- Criteria for Participation
Nonprofit service providers which receive a threshold amount of City funding from more than one participating department are a part of the shared monitoring pool. In prior years, this pool consisted of 66 nonprofits. In 2007, the threshold amount was set to $500,000 and the shared monitoring pool grew to 101 nonprofit contractors. In fiscal year 2008-09, the threshold amount has been decreased, resulting in further expansion of the pool to include approximately150 nonprofit contractors.
Standard Fiscal and Compliance Monitoring Process
- Risk Assessment
Each fiscal year, City departments determine whether nonprofit contractors receive a site visit or self-assessment through an annual risk assessment process. This process is conducted during the first quarter of each fiscal year (July through September) in a special meeting coordinated by the interdepartmental Steering Committee governing the Citywide Nonprofit Monitoring and Capacity Building Program. Participating departments determine monitoring assignments through consensus based on criteria including funding amounts and the results of previous monitoring reports. Each nonprofit contractor must receive a site visit at least once every third fiscal year. A one year waiver from citywide monitoring may be granted under special circumstances and as a result of exceptionally good fiscal and compliance performance by a nonprofit. Nonprofits qualifying for a waiver are nominated by departments and approved by the Steering Committee during the risk assessment process. In order to qualify for the waiver, the nonprofit must submit all invoices and external audits to the City on time, have no monitoring or audit findings in the last two fiscal years, and have received a monitoring site visit in the last two years.
- Standard Fiscal and Compliance Site Visit
Prior to the site visit...
A member of the team of departments funding your nonprofit ("Lead Department Representative") will contact you at least four weeks in advance to schedule your fiscal and compliance site visit monitoring. The Lead Department Representative will then send a letter including the appropriate specifics, such as a request for documents needed for prior review and a copy of the Standard Citywide Fiscal and Compliance Monitoring Form. At least ten days prior to the site visit, the Lead Department Representative should inform you of how many City staff to expect on the visit and other logistical issues relevant to the site visit, if any. You should feel free to raise any questions or concerns with the Lead Department Representative - the City's goal is to make monitoring expectations clear and the monitoring visit as smooth and expedient as possible.
After the site visit...
At the end of the site visit, the monitoring team will share any findings with you. Approximately six weeks after the site visit, the Lead Department Representative will send a monitoring report letter detailing the outcome of the monitoring visit. If there are findings from the monitoring, you will have approximately one month to respond with appropriate plans for corrective actions. Once all findings are addressed to the City's satisfaction, the Lead Department Representative will send you a verification of conformance letter. The monitoring report letter and all subsequent correspondence on findings are posted in the City's online shared data repository, COOL, where all City departments funding you can access the information.
- Standard Fiscal and Compliance Self-Assessment
In a self-assessment, nonprofit service providers fill out the Standard Fiscal and Compliance Monitoring Form and return it to the City along with requested supporting documents. There is no site visit by a City monitoring team although responses on the monitoring form are verified using the requested supporting documents. In the self-assessment process, a Lead Department Representative will send you a letter informing you that your organization has been selected for a self-assessment. The letter will include the Standard Fiscal and Compliance Monitoring Form and a list of the documents requested (such as an agency-wide budget, audited financial statement, various Board meeting minutes, Board roster, Articles and Bylaws, tax form 990, and recent financial reports). You will be asked to return the information within six weeks. The letter will also include the Lead Department Representative's contact information so that you will know who to get in touch with if you have questions or concerns about the self-assessment process or materials.
- Citywide Fiscal and Compliance Standard Monitoring Form
- Citywide Fiscal & Compliance Nonprofit Monitoring Guidelines
Participating Nonprofit Contractor Feedback
- Where to Direct Questions
If you have questions or feedback on the Citywide Nonprofit Monitoring and Capacity Building Program or your annual fiscal and compliance monitoring, you should contact your designated Lead Department Representative or an interdepartmental Steering Committee representative. You may also contact the staff in the Controller's Office facilitating the program at CNMP@sfgov.org
Nonprofit contractors who feel that they have been subject to procedural lapses may - after exhausting their administrative options with the contracting departments - appeal to the Nonprofit Task Force Appellate/Review Panel by contacting the City's Office of Contract Administration. Your contracting department(s) can inform you of the grievance procedures and the option of taking procedural complaints to this body.
- Nonprofit Contractor Feedback
During the year, the Controller's Office regularly meets with the San Francisco Human Services Network (HSN) to receive feedback and provide updates on the Citywide Nonprofit Monitoring and Capacity Building Program. At the end of each fiscal year (June), the Controller's Office conducts an online survey in which participating nonprofit contractors have a formal opportunity to provide detailed feedback on their experience and suggestions for improvement of the Citywide Nonprofit Monitoring and Capacity Building Program. The results of this survey are used to inform the evolution of the program. To-date, the program has received positive and constructive feedback from participating nonprofits - please see the results below.
FY 08-09 Nonprofit Contractor Survey ResultsFY 07-08 Nonprofit Contractor Survey Results
FY 06-07 Nonprofit Contractor Survey Results
FY 05-06 Nonprofit Contractor Survey Results
Please contact the Controller's Office by email at CNMP@sfgov.org, if you have questions about this survey or would like to see the open ended comments submitted as part of these surveys, or have other feedback on the Program you would like to share.
Capacity Building Resources for Nonprofit Contractors
Finance
Cost Allocation
Vacation Pay
Board Governance
Insurance
San Francisco Mayor's Office on Disability Compliance ResourcesThe City's Mayor's Office on Disability (MOD) provides several resources that may be helpful to nonprofits in complying with the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The mission of the MOD is to ensure that every program, service, benefit, activity and facility operated or funded by the City of San Francisco is fully accessible to, and useable by, people with disabilities.
MOD has established a fund to assist non-profit agencies with the costs of providing auxiliary aids and services or other reasonable accommodations to the public.
San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force FAQs
The San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance is an ordinance to ensure easier access to public records and to strengthen the open meeting laws. Nonprofits that receive $250,000 or more in City funds must comply with what is called the Non-Profit Public Access Ordinance. The San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force hosts a website that answers the most frequently asked questions regarding compliance with the Ordinance.
Nonprofit Genie
Free, fast and practical these FAQ's were written by leading experts from around the country on various nonprofit management topics.
Capaciteria Resource Directory
Capaciteria is a comprehensive, searchable database directory of capacity-building resources for nonprofits. It offers peer reviews and ratings of individual resource links. Registration is required.
"Is Your Organization Healthy" Technical Workshop Series for City Contractors
In Fiscal year 2008-09, City Staff and Contractors were invited to participate in two technical workshops series hosted by the Controller's Office and taught by CompassPoint Nonprofit services. The “Is Your Contractor Healthy?” series developed the abilities of City staff to understand how financial documents reveal an organization's strengths and weaknesses. The “Is Your Organization Healthy?” series developed fiscal awareness and capacity among contractor staff. All workshops are based on the Citywide Fiscal and Compliance Nonprofit Monitoring Guidelines*. All PowerPoint documents can be used for review, but are not meant as stand-alone training modules for the workshops themselves.
|
